JCDA - Canadian Dental Association
JCDA - Canadian Dental Association
JCDA - Canadian Dental Association
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––– News & Updates –––<br />
A Clinic Like No Other<br />
In the fall of 2001,<br />
2 students at the<br />
University of<br />
Montreal’s faculty<br />
of dentistry decided<br />
to create a program<br />
that would promote<br />
oral health among<br />
the city’s street<br />
Students at the dental<br />
clinic examining a youth. This population, larger than<br />
Montreal street youth. most people realize, generally has<br />
poor dental hygiene and inadequate<br />
oral health. As part of the students’<br />
directed study, they approached the local community<br />
health centre (CLSC) on Sanguinet Street,<br />
where a medical clinic for street youth was already<br />
established. At the clinic, nurses, doctors and psychologists<br />
work together for the health and welfare<br />
of a client group that doesn’t have access to traditional<br />
dentistry. The 2 students therefore decided<br />
to offer their services to the clinic.<br />
Encouraged by Dr. Denys Ruel, Dr. Daniel<br />
Kandelman, chair of the department of oral health<br />
at the University of Montreal’s faculty of dentistry,<br />
established a partnership with the CLSC des<br />
Faubourgs (which is part of the Jeanne Mance<br />
Centre for Health and Social Services [CSSS]) to<br />
set up a dental clinic that would provide both preventive<br />
and treatment services to street youth.<br />
After the students finished their directed study,<br />
4 of their colleagues decided to continue their<br />
work, but this time by setting up a dental clinic<br />
with 2 relatively functional operatories. They were<br />
eventually able to obtain recurrent funding, and<br />
were joined first by Dr. Martin Chartier then by<br />
Dr. Germain Turgeon. A dental clinic dedicated to<br />
treating Montreal street youth was finally born.<br />
“These four students worked hundreds of<br />
hours making posters to advertise the service, visiting<br />
community organizations, doing work in the<br />
street, locating used equipment, obtaining funding<br />
and starting a clinic with very few resources,” says<br />
Dr. Ruel, lecturer and clinical instructor.<br />
In 2003, the dental clinic won the University of<br />
Montreal’s Forces award, the Government of<br />
Quebec’s Forces Avenir award and the American<br />
<strong>Dental</strong> <strong>Association</strong>’s Student Excellence Award. In<br />
2006, the clinic was honoured with CDA’s Oral<br />
Health Promotion Award for its work promoting<br />
oral health.<br />
Almost 20 students from the University of<br />
Montreal’s faculty of dentistry have worked at the<br />
clinic since it was established, and it appears certain<br />
that the torch will continue to be passed to<br />
new students in the coming years. The current<br />
team has seen and treated more than 1,000 young<br />
people. Students are given a unique opportunity to<br />
become acquainted with the management, administration<br />
and organization of a public dental health<br />
project. The dentists involved continue to help the<br />
students promote the clinic and obtain funding.<br />
The clinic receives funding from the University<br />
of Montreal faculty of dentistry, the Jeanne Mance<br />
CSSS, the QDSA (Quebec <strong>Dental</strong> Surgeons<br />
<strong>Association</strong>), Quebec’s Department of Health and<br />
Social Services and a number of other foundations.<br />
Finding new sources of funding is a never-ending<br />
job. Used equipment needs regular repairs and<br />
dental supplies run out quickly as the demand for<br />
services is so great.<br />
“Our students are showing more and more<br />
interest in the clinic. Engaging them in a community<br />
activity and having them get to know clientele<br />
that is different from the one found at the university<br />
is an essential part of their academic training,”<br />
says Dr. Ruel.<br />
Adds Dr. Kandelman: “We hope to train dentists<br />
who will be better able to serve poor and marginal<br />
populations. The clinical experience we offer<br />
is unlike the one taught at the faculty, due to the<br />
complexity of the cases, the difficult working conditions,<br />
and the special medical conditions and<br />
high-risk behaviour associated with this client<br />
group.” C<br />
<strong>JCDA</strong> • www.cda-adc.ca/jcda • May 2006, Vol. 72, No. 4 • 295