Dental school to deliver oral health care services at long-term care facilities

Key takeaways:Care where it ’s needed. New program will provide mobile care for geriatric and special needs populations.Practical learning. UCLA dental students will have opportunities to train in community-based public health settings.The UCLA School of Dentistry will increase access to comprehensive oral health care among geriatric and special needs populations through a new program made possible by the support of theDelta Dental Community Care Foundation ’s largest-ever single gift to a dental school. The Community Care Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California.With $1.67 million in funding to UCLA Dentistry ’sCommunity-Based Clinical Education Program, the dental school will create the UCLA Dentistry MINDFUL Project, which stands for mobile care in dentistry for underserved populations living in long-term care facilities. The project has three primary objectives:Increase the number of proficient oral health providers for target populationsIncrease oral health literacy for target populations and caregiversIncrease research into the barriers that impact access to careMore than two-thirds of adults in the U.S. aged 65 and older have experienced periodontal disease and nearly 40% of nursing home residents have no teeth, underscoring a critical need to deliver adequate oral health care to the country ’s growing geriatric population. Meanwhile, special needs populations often face wait times of longer than a year for appointments with dental clin...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news