Connie Smith from Always Good News with reporter Greg Howe capture Sharing Smiles Day 2011 in Oakville with the University of Toronto Dental students, George Brown Dental Hygiene students and persons with special needs from various community centers!

Follow the this Link to view the footage of this head-line story (aired on April 4th).

March 6th, Reporter: Lee Anne Wine

Many understand and have experienced the frustration of spending hours in a doctor’s office only to be examined for less than fifteen minutes and then sent on their way. What if you were referred by your local dentist’s office to another clinic eight hours away for a basic dental visit lasting no more than fifteen minutes? You might reasonably ask why this journey would be worth making, and what alternatives currently exist in our healthcare industry. Unfortunately, this is a reality that patients with special needs face on a daily basis in order to receive the most basic of oral health care.

Ali Sigal, founder of OHTH (Oral Health Total Health), is a third-year dentistry student studying at the University of Toronto. Ali recognized a crucial need to address the lack of education that dentists receive surrounding patients with special needs. OHTH is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and improving oral health care for persons with disabilities.

Digging deep into her research at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Ali discovered that a vast number of patients with special needs were being referred and traveling many hours to the hospital for basic check-ups. With so many patients being unnecessarily diverted to Mt. Sinai, the waiting list grows for many patients with medically compromised states that require treatment within a hospital clinic. The waiting list has now grown as much as six months to a year for a patient to be seen. While this is typical for specialist appointments in the healthcare industry, this certainly need not be the case for the most basic of check-ups.

When Ali followed up with dentists to find out why they are unable or unwilling to treat those with disabilities at their local offices, it became clear that perhaps there is a lack of training and confidence when it comes to dealing with special needs patients. Ali says, “It wasn’t the dentists’ unwillingness to help special needs patients, but that they did not feel as though they had the confidence or capabilities to help these individuals within their own practices.” When properly educated about treatment for special needs patients, dentists can put to rest some very common misconceptions and underlying worries. “Dentists will embrace the opportunity to help, and, over time, build the confidence to treat patients with special needs,” Ali says. “In turn, this will reduce lengthy waiting lists and extensive travel — a transformation that is sure to have a positive effect on all parties involved.”

Ali works tirelessly to organize Sharing Smiles Day, an event held each March to bring together individuals with special needs, their care workers, and dental students to enjoy a day of bonding, fun, and, most importantly, education. With the purpose of building positive relationships between the two groups outside of the dental clinic and helping patients with special needs understand how to take better care of their own oral health, the event is free for all attendees. “It is up to our generation to make a change,” Ali states. “If every student participating gets four years worth of Sharing Smiles Day, then […] they will hopefully feel more comfortable with treating these individuals upon graduation.” This is no small feat to accomplish and will have a hugely positive effect on local communities, those suffering from disabilities, and our overall healthcare system.

For more information on how you can help, please visit www.ohth.ca or contact Ali Sigal at info@ohth.ca

“Approximately 4.4 million people in Canada have disabilities. Ensuring that they receive proper oral care is a major issue,” says University of Toronto dentistry student Alison Sigal, the founder of Oral Health, Total Health.

“We know that people with certain disabilities don’t have the hand function or ability to clean their teeth and that they are among the populations most affected by poor oral care,” says Canadian Dental Hygienists Association board member Sandy Lawlor. “It is really important for them to see a dental hygienist to get the plaque off and the teeth scaled so that the gums remain healthy.”

To address the problems facing people with disabilities, Sigal created the non-profit organization OHTH in 2008.

“The primary reason behind founding OHTH was to raise awareness about the issues that persons with special needs face with regard to access to oral care,” says Sigal. “As well as getting information out to the public, it is important to have an impact on future generations. If every dental student at every school treats even one patient with special needs a year, it will reduce the wait lists and wait times.”

She says that she became aware of the extent of the problem in 2006 while she was involved in a summer research project at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital where her father, Dr. Michael Sigal, is dentist in chief.

In researching the files of deceased special-needs patients, she found “the primary cause of death was sudden cardiac arrest” and noted the close (95 per cent) correlation with aspiration pneumonia, which, she points out, is “due to inhaling bacteria in the mouth.”

“Had these patients had more frequent visits to a dentist or dental hygienist or even had improved daily dental care in their homes, they would have had a reduced amount of bacteria in their mouths, thereby reducing the chance of inhaling them and the chance of pneumonia. We are really looking at a qualityof-life issue, not just an oralhealth issue.”

She also discovered that of the 3,500 or more patients with special needs seen annually at the Mount Sinai dental clinic dedicated to this group, some travelled up to eight hours for a 15-minute routine checkup.

One reason for referring these patients to Mount Sinai is that while they receive some financial support through provincial disability insurance, it doesn’t always cover fees charged by dentists in private practice. The key issue, however, was practitioners’ unfamiliarity with dealing with special needs patients, says Sigal.

“When they appeared at their clinics, the dentists did not feel confident of their skills and abilities,” she says.

“We are known as the biggest program for these types of patients, so we are a catchment for referrals -some appropriate and some not,” says Dr. Michael Sigal. “The wait list to get into the program is about six months. If the person with special needs requires anesthesia, it is a year to a year-and-a-half. If a child with special needs is uncooperative with the dentist in the community and the only way to treat him is for him to be asleep and he is referred to us, it could be up to two years before the surgery is done. This is for something that is causing pain and suffering all along and will only get worse with time.”

Efforts are being made to make dental care more accessible, say oral health practitioners.

“A lot of effort is being put in non-traditional settings,” says Dr. Anthony Iacopino, the dean of the faculty of dentistry at the University of Manitoba and the director of the International Centre for Oral-Systemic Health.

“Healthcare professionals are out in the community or in other clinics. We’re also seeing a lot more programs for non-dental health professionals, so that they can participate in screening and referring patients to oral health professionals.”

To view the original article please follow this Link.

Many people with physical or mental disabilities are not receiving the oral care they need or have to wait for treatment for a year or more.

“Approximately 4.4 million people in Canada have disabilities. Ensuring that they receive proper oral care is a major issue,” says University of Toronto dentistry student Alison Sigal, the founder of Oral Health, Total Health.

“We know that people with certain disabilities don’t have the hand function or ability to clean their teeth and that they are among the populations most affected by poor oral care,” says Canadian Dental Hygienists Association board member Sandy Lawlor.

“It is really important for them to see a dental hygienist to get the plaque off and the teeth scaled so that the gums remain healthy.”

To address the problems facing people with disabilities, Sigal created the non-profit organization OHTH in 2008.

“The primary reason behind founding OHTH was to raise awareness about the issues that persons with special needs face with regard to access to oral care,” says Sigal.

“As well as getting information out to the public, it is important to have an impact on future generations. If every dental student at every school treats even one patient with special needs a year, it will reduce the wait lists and wait times.”

She says that she became aware of the extent of the problem in 2006, while she was involved in a summer research project at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, where her father, Dr. Michael Sigal, is dentist-in-chief.

In researching the files of deceased special-needs patients, she found, “the primary cause of death was sudden cardiac arrest,” and noted the close (95 per cent) correlation with aspiration pneumonia, which, she points out, is, “due to inhaling bacteria in the mouth.”

“Had these patients had more frequent visits to a dentist or dental hygienist or even had improved daily dental care in their homes, they would have had a reduced amount of bacteria in their mouths, thereby reducing the chance of inhaling them and the chance of pneumonia. We are really looking at a qualityof-life issue, not just an oralhealth issue.”

She also discovered that of the 3,500 or more patients with special needs seen annually at the Mount Sinai dental clinic dedicated to this group, some travelled up to eight hours for a 15-minute routine checkup.

One reason for referring these patients to Mount Sinai is that while they receive some financial support through provincial disability insurance, it doesn’t always cover fees charged by dentists in private practice.

The key issue, however, was practitioners’ unfamiliarity with dealing with special needs patients, says Sigal.

“We found that the main reason they had to travel so far was that dentists were referring patients to Mount Sinai because they had never had exposure to patients with special needs,” she says. “When they appeared at their clinics, the dentists did not feel confident of their skills and abilities.”

“We are known as the biggest program for these types of patients, so we are a catchment for referrals – some appropriate and some not,” says Dr. Michael Sigal.

“The wait list to get into the program is about six months. If the person with special needs requires anesthesia, it is a year to a year-and-a-half. If a child with special needs is unco-operative with the dentist in the community and the only way to treat him is for him to be asleep and he is referred to us, it could be up to two years before the surgery is done. This is for something that is causing pain and suffering all along and will only get worse with time.”

“The ability to make a difference in the lives of persons with special needs lies within each oral-health practitioner,” says Ali Sigal. “It is up to us to ensure equal access and universal access to oral health care.”

David Lea, OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF

Oakville dental students wants everyone to share a smile

While many people may not like going to the dentist, doing so for most requires little more than driving down the street to the nearest dental office.

This, however, is not the case for many people with special needs, who must often travel long distances to get to a special dental clinic, which will meet their needs.

The issue is one Oakville native Alison Sigal is seeking to rectify.

Sigal, a third-year dental student at the University of Toronto is also the founder of Oral Health, Total Health (OHTH).

The non-profit organization is dedicated to addressing the lack of access to oral healthcare for people with special needs in order to bring about awareness and, ultimately, equality of care.

“The number one top unmet health need for people with special needs remains to be dentistry and nothing about this has changed in the past 30 years unfortunately,” said Sigal.

“Many individuals cannot receive local access to oral healthcare in their communities and many are travelling up to six hours, eight hours to come to Toronto to have a 15-minute checkup.”

The issue, Sigal said, is that many dentists, who have not treated people with special needs before, say they do not have the training. As a result, they refer people with special needs to special dental clinics like the one at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital.

Referring people with special needs to places where they can get specialized treatment is not efficient and has to change, said Sigal.

“The wait list for Sinai is now six months to one year,” she said.

“Many of these patients also live in group homes where oral healthcare is not as adequate as it should be. As a result, these individuals suffer from a greater prevalence of oral disease and that includes cavities, gum disease and everything else underneath the moon. They really should be seen by a dentist three to four times a year to make sure there are no infections or swelling that could compromise their quality of life.”

Sigal, whose father is the current head of the Mount Sinai Hospital Dental Clinic, said by the time many of patients are seen at Mount Sinai they are in agony from infections, which have developed in their mouths.

While Sigal acknowledges some patients will require care only a special dental clinic can provide, she said local dentists can do more with special needs patients than what they are doing right now.

“You can always do something. Some patients, they come in for literally three minutes. You have a toothbrush in your hand, you open their mouth, having a quick peek to make sure there’s no sign of infection, there’s no signs of decay, no teeth are fractured and that’s it. Other patients you can do a full cleaning on, no problem,” she said.

“At Sinai, the majority of patients who come in you take a look, give them a quick cleaning and send them on their way. It’s very disheartening when patients like that come and the families tell you they’ve called six or seven dentists and were refused.”

In an effort to make the next generation of dental practitioners more comfortable with treating people with special needs, OHTH has been holding special events called Sharing Smiles Days.

The event brings people with special needs and University of Toronto dental students together for a fun day of activities and dental information and demonstrations.

Students from the University of Western Ontario’s dental program participated in a Sharing Smiles Day event last year. Sigal hopes to see Sharing Smiles established at every dental school across the country.

Sigal said OHTH has been holding Sharing Smiles Days once a year for the past three years with the events growing in attendance each time.

Approximately 400 people attended last year’s event.

Sigal said that if these dental students even help just one special needs person a year, this will have an impact and help to reduce the wait times at the Mount Sinai clinic so the medically compromised people who really need to be seen can be seen.

This year’s Sharing Smiles Day event will take place in Oakville at Le Dome Banquet Hall on March 26.

For more information, visit http://ohth.ca.

Please follow this Link to view the Original article.

Dental care for people with special needs

Iris Winston, Postmedia News · Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011

Monique Johnson from the Reporter spends time with various dentists, dental students and persons with special needs participating in the First Annual Sharing Smiles Day in London.

Excerpt from the Article:

Janet is passed out and doesn’t know what’s about to happen.

Her dentist, Dr. Raymond Lee, bends down and gently rests her head on the headrest of her wheelchair. Janet (whose name was changed to protect her privacy), has cerebral palsy and can’t speak.

She’s on Valium to help relax. And Lee hopes Janet won’t wake up and be startled by his presence. Just in case she does, his dental assistant and Janet’s support worker stand by.

Lee opens her mouth and begins the examination.

“This is not good. This is gingivitis,” Lee says as he points to her inflamed gum line. “This disease is very uncomfortable.”

Janet moans. Her eyes slowly open and widen in panic. She suddenly jerks her head away from Lee’s grip. Janet’s moan now sounds like a cry.

“It’s okay sweetheart, you’ll be okay,” says Janet’s support worker (who also can’t be named).

Photo by Monique Johnson

Dr. Raymond Lee treats a special-needs patient.

Janet’s aggressive behaviour forces Lee to stop the examination; the Valium didn’t work well enough. But Lee says because of the severity of her gingivitis, she’ll have to return and be given general anesthesia to get her teeth cleaned. There’s no other way to do it because of her anxiety and behaviour, he says.

But Janet’s lucky she got an immediate appointment.

The waiting list is so long at London Health Sciences Centre’s dentistry deparment, that special-needs patients wait 12 to 14 months to see Lee – sometimes for a routine check-up. Dentists recommend a check-up every three to four months for such patients.

Excerpt from the Article:

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…