Touro College of Dentistry and the New York State Council on Developmental Disabilities have partnered on a unique program to ensure that people with developmental disabilities receive appropriate dental care.
A program called Smiles unitedwas founded in 2020 through a CDD grant to provide people with DD and their caregivers access to dental care by providing oral health education, including practical educational tools and much-needed dental hygiene supplies. Designed to help you overcome barriers.
“We have long heard about the challenges people with developmental disabilities experience in accessing dental services,” said CDD Executive Director Christine Proud. “Many general dentists are not adequately trained to appropriately deal with situations that may arise when treating patients with DD, and their caregivers are not fully trained to provide relevant oral health information or the necessary care. They often have a hard time finding a dentist who will provide them with the right treatment. What's more, all children and adults, regardless of diagnosis or ability, should receive appropriate dental care.”
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children with developmental disabilities are more likely to have unmet dental needs and are at higher risk for developing dental disease than children without disabilities. Reasons include the use of sugar-rich medications, dependence on a caregiver for regular oral hygiene, and certain physical or behavioral conditions that can affect oral health habits.
Through the Smiles United initiative, participating group homes and caregivers are surveyed to explore the general and specific oral health care challenges they face when caring for people with developmental disabilities at home. I did.
A Smiles United team of dental students was created, led by two TCDM faculty with advanced training in specialty dentistry: Dr. Raquel Rozdolski, DMD, and Dr. Susan DiSenso-Browne, DDS. The team has developed a series of pre-recorded educational videos that are made available to group homes for caregivers to view. These educational videos explain and demonstrate helpful techniques to maintain your residents' oral health. Oral hygiene kits containing essential items tailored to the specific needs of government agencies and individual residents were also distributed.
“In New York State, there is a significant lack of access to basic oral health care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The reality became clearer: Smiles United's purpose was to provide caregivers with the ability to confidently provide daily oral care to the individuals in their care. We provide the education, accommodations, guidance, and tools needed to help them become successful,” said Dr. Raquel Rozdolski, DMD. “The video module has achieved our original goal. However, our work is far from finished. This is just one small step in our mission.”
Smiles United's goal is not only to remove barriers to oral health care for people with DD, but also to make this project available to all group homes to further educate their caregivers and improve the overall health of their residents. It's about making it work as a model. . The Smiles United team will continue to provide educational video modules for free and available to all individuals and institutions on the YouTube platform.
Watch Smiles United video To learn more about the project.
