UB dental students give care on West Side

By Kimberly Snickles
Bengal News reporter
 For some Hispanic residents of the lower West Side, finding a way to get proper dental care can be a real toothache. To help solve this problem, the UB School of Dental Medicine’s students and

Dr. Rene Perez-Bode with at patient at the Mattina Center

faculty are trying to make it easier for them.
 For two days, residents can receive free dental care and oral cancer screenings at the Judge Mattina Community Health Center at 300 Niagara St.
 The event was started by Yoly Gonzalez, clinical assistant professor of Oral Diagnostic Sciences at UB seven years ago. A native of Venezuela, Gonzalez wanted to make a connection with the West Side.
 “Part of her reason for starting this (event) is she felt a need to get out in the community to help provide services that she didn’t see being provided for adults; specifically focused on the Hispanic roots,” said Heidi Crow, UB Associate Professor of Oral Diagnostic Sciences.
 There is also limited access to specialty care and to dentists who might be bilingual.
 “It is difficult for patients to make that transition,” said Crow. “It seems like a really far way to go and less of a welcoming environment when you have a limited ability to communicate in English.”
 The forms that are used during screenings have one side written in English and one side in Spanish. The UB School of Dental Medicine has many members who are bilingual, so if someone has a hard time communicating in English, another individual can explain it to them in Spanish.
 The event is sponsored by Kaleida Health and the Hispanic Dental Association.
 “Our local chapters are the hands of our association,” said Rita Brummett, Associate Director of the Hispanic Dental Association. “In order to fulfill our mission statement, we need them to get out in the community and provide the services, because nationally we can only do so much.”
 The faculty members and students review the patient’s medical history with them, check their mouth, give them a visual screening and note if they have any cavities that need to be addressed. Patients that have cavities, gum disease, or any other oral problems can make an appointment at the health center to come back and receive treatment.

Professor Heidi Crow, on how free dental care has helped patients:


 “It is better in my mind to have them make the appointment on site and leaving with that appointment then just telling them, “Go call somebody when you get home,” said Crow. “I think it gives them a better chance of getting them in to have their needs met.”
 There is a large population of residents on the West Side who are from Puerto Rico where there is a higher level of tobacco use and potential cancer problems. If the faculty and students find any abnormal tissue in the event that it could be cancer, they will provide follow-up for specialists to see them directly at the UB Dental School.
 “It is a nice thing to see the connection with UB and the patients at the Judge Mattina Clinic,” said Dr. Rene Perez-Bode, a full-time dentist at the clinic. “The dentists bring their students and the students can get in touch with the real facts of life.”
 The UB Dental School also works closely with Roswell Park’s Quit Line and they send the necessary materials to the dental patients who want to quit smoking.
 Does this event encourage residents to come back for more dental treatment?
 “We hope so,” said Crow. “Because we have shown them that they have dental needs and they are able to make the appointment right away, many of them have set up appointments before they leave the dental clinic.”

Edited by Tony Fiorello