Amid the cheerfully decorated walls, portable dental chairs and bright lamps at the Boys & Girls Club of London, there are lessons to be learned.
“We focus on the human aspect of dentistry, the connection of the student to the patient,” explained Dr. Les Kalman, DDS’99, chair of the Dental Outreach Community Service (DOCS) program.
This scene takes place throughout the year, as the clinic rotates among community agencies and centres across the city to deliver free dental care to low-income families and individuals with no dental insurance.
DOCS has become a flagship of Schulich Dentistry’s educational experience. Started by Dr. Ken Wright in 2008, the program has evolved from a coordinated volunteer effort to a mandatory curriculum component for fourth-year students.
Initial screenings take place at the community agencies, including examinations and treatment plans. Follow-up appointments and comprehensive treatments are completed at the school’s main clinic on campus.
With this approach, the program delivers high-quality oral health care where it’s needed.
“Some patients haven’t been to the dentist in years – even decades,” Kalman said. “The goal is to take away the barriers to care they may be facing and provide this service in a setting where our patients will be comfortable.”
While DOCS provides community members with free dental care, it simultaneously offers unique learning opportunities for students, bringing a variety of new cases to the curriculum.
“The educational component is at the core of the program,” Kalman said. “It’s about exposing students to a population that has challenges they may not be aware of otherwise.”
Dr. Pennie Thornton, DDS’81, a London dentist and DOCS volunteer, also appreciates the significant advantage of this exposure. “The DOCS experience rounds our students as people and as practitioners,” she said.
With the essential support of local dentists like Thornton, Schulich staff and faculty members, private donors and community agencies, DOCS facilitates upward of 200 appointments and delivers more than $40,000 in academic dental fees each year.
With this level of invested commitment in the city’s oral health, the community-building has an impact beyond the walls of individual DOCS clinics. “We’re showing that Schulich is part of the London community,” Kalman said.
As the clinic at the Boys & Girls Club closes for the evening and the equipment is packed away, it is clear that for all involved, DOCS is about more than simply fixing teeth.
“We’re giving people back their smiles, their confidence and their community,” Kalman said. “We’re also teaching our students that there’s a patient attached to every tooth.”
