Sharing Smiles Day tackles dental care issues for people with special needs
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Dental care is a major health priority for people with
special needs as they’re at high risk for oral disease. But the harsh
reality is people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities have
trouble finding care in their communities. This problem is due in part
to dentists’ lack of comfort with special needs persons, and
misconceptions about treatment. Dental students at The University of
Western Ontario are working to overcome these barriers through Sharing
Smiles Day, the first event of its kind in London.
Dental students and faculty from the Schulich School of Medicine &
Dentistry at Western will host the event with Community Living London on
behalf of the non-profit organization Oral Health, Total Health
(OHTH). Sharing Smiles Day will take place on Saturday, April 10 at the
Best Western Lamplighter Inn, at 591 Wellington Road South, and aims to
remove attitudinal barriers, raise awareness and educate students and
dentists about the importance of oral health care for persons with
special needs.
The event begins at 10:00 a.m. with carnival-like games. London-Fanshawe M.P.P. Khalil Ramal will help kick things off. A free luncheon will be held at noon with guest speakers including London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best, Dr. Harinder Sandhu, the director of Schulich Dentistry and Michelle Palmer, the executive director of Community Living London. Then at 1:00 p.m., there will be a series of dental demonstrations and oral health care instruction led by Schulich faculty and paediatric residents from Children’s Hospital.
“Routine dental check-ups are rarely routine for some of the people we support. Stress and anxiety can make it very difficult for people to see the dentist, or receive proper oral health care. Furthermore some dentists find it challenging to provide a calm and comfortable setting due to their lack of interactions with people requiring support,” explains Michelle Palmer, the executive director of Community Living London. “Sharing Smiles is a great opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with people with special needs as it relates to their oral health care. It’s also a great opportunity for the people we support to create and foster new relationships with upcoming dentists who may eventually provide their oral health care.”
“This is the most amazing initiative undertaken by our dental students,” says Dr. Sandhu. “Schulich Dentistry trains students to be socially responsible and this is a wonderful example of that. I wish to specifically acknowledge Juliana Birek and Jeremy McCallum for starting an OHTH chapter at Western."
The chapter co-founders say Sharing Smiles Day is a unique opportunity for both the special needs participants and the dental students. “The participants and their caregivers get exposure to oral hygiene instruction in a fun, relaxed, and non-intimidating setting; while the students, some of whom have never met someone with special needs, get the chance to interact with them and see them as people, so that they will be more likely to make a commitment to treating them when they graduate, increasing access to dental care for this population. Positive relationships are fostered on both sides."
OHTH is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital’s Dentistry Clinic for Persons with Special Needs in Toronto, where people with disabilities across Ontario go to receive the dental care they need. The non-profit organization is a collective effort of dental faculty and students from Schulich Dentistry and the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto, who have a vision of one day living in a country where all people, regardless of disability, have universal access to oral health care in their communities. Through fundraising, promoting awareness, and educating dental students, dentists and community access workers, OHTH hopes to bring oral care to the people who need it most.
For more information, please contact Jeremy McCallum at mccallumjeremy@gmail.com or Jeff Renaud, Senior Media Relations Officer, The University of Western Ontario, 519-661-2111 ext. 85165, jrenaud9@uwo.ca
The event begins at 10:00 a.m. with carnival-like games. London-Fanshawe M.P.P. Khalil Ramal will help kick things off. A free luncheon will be held at noon with guest speakers including London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best, Dr. Harinder Sandhu, the director of Schulich Dentistry and Michelle Palmer, the executive director of Community Living London. Then at 1:00 p.m., there will be a series of dental demonstrations and oral health care instruction led by Schulich faculty and paediatric residents from Children’s Hospital.
“Routine dental check-ups are rarely routine for some of the people we support. Stress and anxiety can make it very difficult for people to see the dentist, or receive proper oral health care. Furthermore some dentists find it challenging to provide a calm and comfortable setting due to their lack of interactions with people requiring support,” explains Michelle Palmer, the executive director of Community Living London. “Sharing Smiles is a great opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with people with special needs as it relates to their oral health care. It’s also a great opportunity for the people we support to create and foster new relationships with upcoming dentists who may eventually provide their oral health care.”
“This is the most amazing initiative undertaken by our dental students,” says Dr. Sandhu. “Schulich Dentistry trains students to be socially responsible and this is a wonderful example of that. I wish to specifically acknowledge Juliana Birek and Jeremy McCallum for starting an OHTH chapter at Western."
The chapter co-founders say Sharing Smiles Day is a unique opportunity for both the special needs participants and the dental students. “The participants and their caregivers get exposure to oral hygiene instruction in a fun, relaxed, and non-intimidating setting; while the students, some of whom have never met someone with special needs, get the chance to interact with them and see them as people, so that they will be more likely to make a commitment to treating them when they graduate, increasing access to dental care for this population. Positive relationships are fostered on both sides."
OHTH is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital’s Dentistry Clinic for Persons with Special Needs in Toronto, where people with disabilities across Ontario go to receive the dental care they need. The non-profit organization is a collective effort of dental faculty and students from Schulich Dentistry and the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto, who have a vision of one day living in a country where all people, regardless of disability, have universal access to oral health care in their communities. Through fundraising, promoting awareness, and educating dental students, dentists and community access workers, OHTH hopes to bring oral care to the people who need it most.
For more information, please contact Jeremy McCallum at mccallumjeremy@gmail.com or Jeff Renaud, Senior Media Relations Officer, The University of Western Ontario, 519-661-2111 ext. 85165, jrenaud9@uwo.ca
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