A dental service on wheels is bringing treatment to residents of
long-term care facilities throughout B.C.
The UBC Dental Program for Seniors is the only one of its kind
in B.C. and offers province-wide support for B.C.’s approximately
23,000 institutionalized seniors through dental treatment, training
for dental students and continuing education for practicing dentists
and dental hygienists.
“Seniors in care are a truly under-serviced population,” says program
director Michele Williams, an assistant professor in UBC’s Dept.
of Oral Biological and Medical
Sciences.
The program uses self-contained portable units about the size of
a mini-bar. Each contains a water supply, suction unit and generator
for running state-of-the-art operating drills and other equipment.
A high-powered gooseneck lamp can be connected to the unit and a
separate tool kit holds sterile equipment and dental materials.
The mobile office plugs into any wall socket and can be rolled
to a resident’s bedside.
Patients at Lower Mainland care facilities are first screened by
Williams, colleagues Mylene Boridy and Susan Bermingham, dental
students and residents. The team then returns to complete the required
dental work on a fee-for-service basis, allowing students to learn
first hand the skills needed to care for the elderly.
“Besides direct service we educate care aides, facility administrators
and family members about oral care for institutionalized seniors,”
says Williams.
Four of the program’s six portable units have been dispatched to
regional health regions across B.C. A fifth is used for research.
-30-
