Dental Medicine’s special needs program provides preventive, routine dental care for adults, teens

For patients with disabilities and their families, each day can bring a new set of challenges. Finding a dentist shouldn’t be one of them.

That was the conclusion of the late Carlos F. Salinas, D.D.S., D.M.D., an MUSC dentist and genetic researcher who, more than 25 years ago, witnessed the difficulties families faced when trying to find dental care for a child or family member with disabilities.

First, he launched a continuing education conference to encourage dentists to treat patients with disabilities. The annual event was intended to provide support and education and be a place where dentists could exchange information, share best practices and network with their peers. He also compiled a directory of dentists in South Carolina who accepted special needs patients.

 

In 2015, when the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine’s building opened on Bee Street, Salinas insisted on having a special needs clinic on the first floor.

Both the clinic, named the MUSC Pamela Kaminski Clinic for Adolescents and Adults with Special Health Care Needs, and The Carlos F. Salinas Dental Program for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Individuals with Special Health Care Needs are thriving. The program, which features national and international speakers and draws dentists from across South Carolina, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in October.

The clinic’s mission is twofold: to provide preventive and routine dental care for special needs adults and teens who have aged out of pediatric dentistry and to introduce third- and fourth-year dental students to special needs dentistry.

“At the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine, our mission is to develop transformative leaders and oral health providers to improve wellness. Our team at the Pamela Kaminski Clinic for Adolescents and Adults with Special Health Care Needs embraces our mission with the passion and commitment deserving of the patients and families we serve,” said Sarandeep Huja, D.D.S., Ph.D., dean of the College of Dental Medicine.

 

The dean further explained that, as dental educators, the faculty’s priority is to develop the next generation of providers committed to serving patients with special health care needs with empathy, accessibility and clinical excellence. “In tandem with our academic programs, we are proud of our commitment to the Salinas Dental Program, a professional development initiative in special needs dentistry that serves our state’s current workforce. A priority of the program is to cultivate clinical and advocacy skills that yield a collective, positive impact for the oral health of our patients and families,” he added.

Staffed by Michelle E. Ziegler, D.D.S., the college’s director of Special Care Dentistry, and Isabelle Driggers, D.M.D., who volunteers her time, the clinic is open two days a week. Students and residents also treat patients under their direction.

“For the most part, we provide preventive care and get patients on a regular exam schedule, but we also do fillings and work with residents and specialists in other departments to arrange tooth extractions, root canals and oral surgery,” Ziegler said.

The clinic has helped to fill a void, but the need for dental care remains high. “Very few dentists are equipped to treat patients with disabilities,” Ziegler said. “It’s absolutely hard for family members to find dentists who can accommodate a wheelchair, who accept Medicaid payments and who are comfortable treating special-needs patients.”

MUSC’s special needs dental clinic accepts Medicaid and has a treatment room that was funded by Delta Dental, which contains a movable dental chair so patients in wheelchairs or on a stretcher don’t have to be moved to a dental chair for treatment.

Pam Loudon of Mount Pleasant, whose 21-year-old daughter, PJ, has been a patient at the clinic for seven years, said the services have been a lifesaver.

“Once a child becomes an adult, it’s so hard to find care,” she said. “The staff is caring and so patient, and the advantage of being able to remain in their wheelchair lessens the trauma of a dental visit for patients.”

Patients and families aren’t the only ones who benefit. Students and residents also rotate through the clinic. The experience is eye-opening and introduces them to a new dimension of patient care. “Once they become comfortable with the setting, working with our patients opens their hearts and their minds and prepares them,” said Ziegler.

Maria Cordova-Salinas, D.M.D., who partnered with her late husband to expand access to dental care for patients with disabilities, said he would be proud of the work that the College of Dental Medicine has carried on.

“As a genetic researcher, Carlos worked closely with families whose children had special needs. He was acutely aware of the challenges that they confronted, and he wanted to do everything he could to eliminate barriers to dental care and encourage more dentists to learn how to care for special needs patients. I think he would be pleased with the progress that has been made.” 

And the directory he created? With a grant from The Duke Endowment, the directory is available to patients, families and health care providers online at Special Adult Network of Dentists.