Springfield High School's on-campus health center has added a full dental clinic, giving students across all 17 district buildings access to exams, X-rays, cleanings, fillings and tooth extractions without needing insurance. District officials say the addition tackles a problem hiding in plain sight: nearly 40% of Clark County middle and high school students have not seen a dentist in the past year, and dental cavities remain the number one health condition treated at the clinic.
Springfield City School District and Rocking Horse Community Health Center opened the dental service as an expansion of the school-based health center that first opened in August 2024, according to the Springfield News-Sun. The clinic sits at Springfield High School, 701 E. Home Road, and is open to students in preschool through grade 12 with parental consent. Superintendent Bob Hill called the dental clinic “a game changer for students and the community,” adding that adding dental care was a goal the district did not initially expect to reach.
The expansion followed a districtwide mobile dental program that Springfield City School District rolled out across all 17 school buildings in spring 2026, according to the Springfield City School District. That mobile push served as a bridge while the permanent clinic was built out inside the existing health center. District officials announced at the clinic's August ribbon-cutting that the facility is now one of 46 school-based health centers in Ohio offering dental care.
A Countywide Shortage Behind the Push
The urgency behind the project traces back to a stark provider gap: Clark County has just one dentist for every 2,500 residents, per the district. That scarcity has real consequences beyond the classroom. Faith Bosland said Clark County residents end up in the emergency room because of severe dental pain at a rate of two or three people on average, and she noted that seeing a dentist every six months remains the best way to prevent those emergency visits.
Bosland also said research shows oral health is important to overall health, and that oral health is a top focus for the Community Health Foundation, which helped form the Clark County Oral Health Coalition. The foundation approved $50,000 in operating support for Rocking Horse's dental operations in July 2024, bringing its cumulative funding for the organization's dental care to $400,000 since 2017, according to the Community Health Foundation. Medicaid dental reimbursements cover only 40% of the cost of care at Rocking Horse's clinic, where 14% of patients speak Spanish or Haitian Creole, the foundation notes.
Untreated Cavities Tied to Absences and Bigger Health Risks
Dental cavities aren't just the clinic's top health complaint among children — they also rank as a top-five driver of school absences. Left untreated, dental disease or infection can contribute to high blood pressure, diabetes, pre-diabetes, stillbirth, Alzheimer's, dementia and early death, per the district's own findings. Research cited by state health and education officials indicates that school-based health centers improve student attendance, GPAs and grade promotion rates while reducing suspensions by delivering care directly on campus, according to the Office of the Governor of Ohio.
The health center itself opened in August 2024 as a 5,000-square-foot, $3 million facility built inside repurposed classroom space, funded in part by $1 million in state capital funding awarded through the Mental Health Recovery Board of Clark, Greene & Madison Counties. Rocking Horse Community Health Center, which operates the site, is a Federally Qualified Health Center with 25 years of experience in Clark County and offers services on a sliding fee scale based on family income regardless of insurance status. The school-based health center accepts all patients regardless of ability to pay.
What's Available Beyond the Dental Chair
Beyond dentistry, the health center includes four exam rooms for primary care, vaccinations and health screenings, plus three additional rooms dedicated to mental health treatment and individual and group counseling. Services span well-child visits, immunizations, same-day sick visits, chronic care management, women's health and wellness, patient advocacy and sports physicals. The Ohio Department of Health and Delta Dental provided start-up grant funding for the new dental service line, and additional Ohio Department of Health grant funding will be used to buy dental equipment for in-house services during the 2026-27 school year.
Establishing a school-based health center emerged as a top community priority during the district's strategic planning process, which included input from more than 2,000 community and staff members. That feedback directly shaped the decision to build the health center and, later, expand it with dental care. The clinic operates 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Families can schedule appointments by calling 937-717-2578.
Springfield's move mirrors a broader statewide push. In March 2024, Governor Mike DeWine awarded $64 million through the Appalachian Children's Health Initiative to create or expand 28 school-based health center projects across 20 Ohio counties, a trend Hoodline has tracked in Huntington's newly named clinic and in a Federally Qualified Health Center project breaking ground in Hamilton's Lindenwald neighborhood. For Clark County families facing long waits and thin provider networks, Springfield's new clinic offers a rare option: comprehensive dental care built right into the school day.
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