March is Development Disabilities Awareness Month. This year’s theme, developed by the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities and its partners, is “A World of Opportunities–celebrating people and working together to remove obstacles.” The NYU College of Dentistry Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities is creating worlds of opportunities each day through its commitment to thoughtful dental care and its growing partnership with AHRC NYC.
Few people’s favorite place to go is the dentist’s office. Long wait times, sterile fluorescent lighting, unusual sounds, and the unfamiliarity of a dental exam can combine to make for an especially harrowing experience for people with disabilities and their caretakers. As a result, many members of this population forgo oral health checkups, leading to complications that can affect a person’s overall well-being.
Now, one of AHRC NYC’s longtime community partners is working to provide dignified dental care for people with disabilities. The NYU Dentistry Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities is providing innovative care for people whose day-to-day living needs prevent them from receiving conventional dental services.
“Dentists have a responsibility to learn how to service patients with disabilities,” said Dr. Rita Bilello, CEO of Metro Community Health Centers, and a dentist with decades of experience. “We are providing medical care the way it is supposed to be provided, meeting patients where they are.”
During a tour of NYU Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities, Dr. Rita Bilello reassures a guest in the dentist’s chair.
The NYU Dentistry Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities and Metro Community Health Centers plan to have an ongoing relationship with AHRC NYC in the following months, providing people we support and their families with information and opportunities for services.
Visiting the Dentistry Center
People from AHRC NYC’s Employment and Business Services’ Brooklyn-based programs visited the center on Friday, February 23rd to learn more from Dr. Bilello and Barbie Vartanian, NYU’s Director of Oral Health Advocacy & Policy Initiatives, about the dentistry center and what they can do to ensure consistent oral health in between office visits.
Visitors to the center included Charles Ackerman, Victor Carrion, Maria DeJesus, Ervine Haskins, Jonathan Pagan, and May Siu, accompanied by staff members Nathanael Vaky, Luciano Singer, and Pilar Jones.
“Everybody has a different point when they feel safe,” Dr. Bilello explained to the tour group. “The type of care you receive is all based on upon what each person says they need and how they feel safe. That’s why your voice is important.”
Dr. Bilello humorously explains the use of various dental tools to guests of the tour.
NYU’s Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities opened five years ago. Located on 24th Street and 1st Avenue in Manhattan, the center offers a multi-sensory room designed to reduce patients’ agitation and anxiety; wheelchair tilts to ensure patients with mobility issues are safe and comfortable; bariatric chairs designed to accommodate patients up to 650 pounds; large treating rooms built to ensure space for patients and their care team, as well as being equipped with sensory lighting and entertainment capabilities; and a range of sedation options if the patient requires them.
Ervine Haskins expressed nervousness about going to dental appointments, especially if it would require sedation. Dr. Bilello reassured Ervine that there are a range of options available based on his desires. “There are different ways to help people calm down. A lot of times it starts with a simple conversation. We have the option of making just your lips numb, there is a gas that you can breathe to calm you down, and other levels of medicine to calm you down even more.”
Dr. Bilello and Ms. Vartanian provided the touring group with dental care packages including toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss picks, cotton swabs, water pick attachments, and other items that they could expect to see during a dental visit. The level of care and information impressed Charles Ackerman, so much so that he expressed interest in potentially working at the center in some capacity.
“You can tell they love their patients here,” Charles said.
