Treating children, not teeth When you obtain your professional dental/hygiene licence, it means that society gives you the right and obligation to practice your profession for the good of society. You are obligated to treat the general public, everyone that requires your services. The main exception is when their dental requirements are beyond your level … Read more
Three patients are set to undergo Canada’s first “tooth-in-eye” surgeries at Vancouver’s Mount Saint Joseph Hospital this week, aiming to restore their vision. This rare procedure, medically known as osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP), involves implanting a tooth with an optical lens into the eye to replace damaged corneal tissue. The hospital stated Monday on its official news … Read more
As of June 27, 2024, adults with a valid Disability Tax Credit certificate and children under the age of 18 can now apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). With this expansion, approximately 1.2 million more people will have the opportunity for improved oral health, according to the Government of Canada. This is made … Read more
“Working with children and individuals with disabilities gives you entry into an authenticity that working with an adult population can’t give you. Individuals with disabilities seldom wear a mask. What you see is what you get. I call it the entryway to the divine.” 1 Providing regular care to people living with disabilities is a challenge … Read more
If you are thinking, “this article is not applicable to me”, then please consider the list of questions below: The relevance of this article extends beyond care for persons of disabilities because patients who were once healthy in your dental practice will age and may develop disabilities (temporary or permanent). Access to dental care is … Read more
TranscenDental Group at Waverley Road became what is believed to be the first wheelchair-accessible dental clinic in Nova Scotia, reports Global News. The clinic now has a lift to transfer patients to the dental chair, whereas before patients had to go through the process of sliding from their wheelchair into the chair, getting work done … Read more
Disability advocates are warning that the upcoming Canadian dental care plan may have eligibility gaps for those with disabilities. The details of the plan are due to be announced later this fall, but the goal is to have kids under the age of 18, seniors, and people with disabilities covered with the program. It has … Read more
The Canadian Society for Disability and Oral Health (CSDH) made a submission to Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos this Spring, pointing out multiple issues related to access to dental care for people with disabilities. According to CBC News, they pointed out “a lack of mandatory disability-specific training for dental professionals; physical accessibility barriers in clinics; fee structures for dentists that … Read more
Dental students from the University of Alberta are helping people with disabilities get the dental care they need. Dental hygiene and dental students hosted a free event on Saturday where they provided free oral health care services and education for people with disabilities or special needs, reported Global News. The goal for the event was … Read more
An Edmonton dental clinic is changing lives with potentially the only lift in the province that allows patients to remain in wheelchairs to receive treatment, CTV News Edmonton reported. The lift, or the “diaco dental chair“, is designed to eliminate the need to transfer patients to a typical dental chair. Dr. Nibras Sharif is passionate … Read more
Health practitioners, educators and student leaders from across America gathered at University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry for the “Dentistry as Participant and Casualty of Racism and Bias in Medicine: Moving Toward Equity in Oral Health Care” symposium hosted January 20 by the Pacific Center for Equity in Oral Health Care. … Read more
Wikipedia defines neurodiversity, neurodivergence, or neurovariance as “Variations in the human brain and cognition, for instance in sociability, learning, attention, mood and other mental functions.”1 The term was first coined in the 1990’s by sociologist Judy Singer and tended to be used when discussing autism spectrum disorder and attention hyperactivity disorder within the self-advocacy movement. … Read more
Dr. Peggy Bown’s dental clinic doesn’t smell like one. It’s by design. When she built her Saint John clinic in 2015, she avoided using materials that create the smell most people encounter when they go to the dentist, and she uses a surgical air cleaner and essential oils to keep things fresh. Her clinic also has … Read more
“I created my own suit, if you will,” said Simmi Patel, DDS, opening a duffel bag full of supplies. “It’s all to show that when we have patients with disabilities, we need to rethink our instructions with them.” Patel, a clinical assistant professor in the public health sciences department at the Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, … Read more
Going to the dentist can be an anxious experience for anyone, but even more daunting when there are communication barriers. Because of cultural and language barriers, people who are deaf or hard of hearing often lack access to efficient communication in the health care system. These disparities can lead to misdiagnoses, mistreatment, limited access to care, and poorer … Read more
People living with dementia—and those taking care of their needs—are bound to face a lot of challenges as the condition progresses. Dementia affects the behavior, thinking, and memory of those diagnosed with it. Their reasoning and memory skills decline over time. People with dementia will tend to forget things, even something as basic and important … Read more
As the masked madness continues into 2021, mask exempt individuals are becoming more and more alienated. Serena, a mother of two autistic sons, is no stranger to this segregation. Both of her sons have been denied medical treatment at various points over the last several months, because of their inability to tolerate wearing a face … Read more
People with disabilities have a long history of unequal access to, and discrimination in, oral health and primary care, which has resulted in large health disparities between disabled individuals and their nondisabled peers – as well as poorer health outcomes. The primary causes for this are well known: healthcare facilities lack accessible medical diagnostic equipment, … Read more
A B.C. family is outraged after their dental office told them it would charge extra to treat their son with autism. ”I don’t think preying on special needs families is fair,” David Kun told Global News. An Abbotsford dentist is demanding David and Katie Kun pay a $137 “behaviour management fee” for future appointments for … Read more
NYU College of Dentistry’s Department of Pediatric Dentistry has received a nearly $2 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to train dentists and other health professionals to provide oral health care to people with disabilities and complex medical conditions. This is the fourth HRSA grant awarded to the Department of Pediatric Dentistry … Read more