Your New York State Dental Foundation Caring for People Living with Disabilities

Your New York State Dental Foundation Caring for People Living with Disabilities

NYSDF in search of champions committed to helping special Olympians smile.

In June, the New York State Dental Foundation launched its Champions for Change initiative to encourage members of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) to volunteer at Special Smiles screenings at Special Olympics (NYSO) events.

Champions for Change seeks to promote volunteerism and inclusion by helping to underwrite dental students’ and residents’ travel costs to the Special Olympics. These volunteers must attend a dental school or residency program in New York State and belong to ASDA.

More than 31,000 individuals with disabilities benefit annually from screening programs conducted by volunteers at events hosted by Special Olympics New York.

Among the Foundation’s partners in this endeavor is the Pierre Fauchard Academy, whose New York State Chair, Dr. Amarilis Jacobo, presented NYSDF with $1,000 to support these efforts. Also working with Foundation Trustees and staff have been Dr. Mina Kim, NYSO Ambassador, and Gil Barahman, ASDA District 2 Trustee and ASDA Stony Brook President.

The Foundation has historically supported and promoted programs like Special Olympics. Working with the New York State Task Force for Special Needs Dentistry, the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities and the Council on Disabilities Planning, it has developed continuing education courses, many of which were provided free of charge. Working with Special Olympics provides the Foundation with an opportunity to broaden its outreach.

Special Olympics New York annually serves more than 31,000 individuals who live with disabilities. In addition to the more than 5,000 coaches who donate time and resources to help train the athletes, more than 4,000 volunteers—including dentists, dental hygienists and students/residents—help to ensure that the events run smoothly and that children and adults with intellectual disabilities enjoy continued opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of skills and friendship with their families, other athletes and the entire community.

Volunteering at an NYSO event it is hoped will encourage our next generation of dentists to treat more people who present with physical or developmental disabilities, while at the same time giving ASDA members invaluable mentorship from volunteer professionals who have been in the field for a while.

The next Special Smiles/NYSO event is the Fall State Games, taking place on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Glens Falls City Park, 28 Maple St., Glens Falls, from 4:30 – 8:30 p.m. Dr. Gary Goldstein is in charge of the screening effort.

To volunteer, go to: Champions for Change ASDA/Special Olympics—New York State Dental Foundation (nysdentalfoundation.org)

NYSDF PREPARED TO HELP DENTISTS RESPOND TO NEEDS OF DISABLED

As reported recently in the ADA News, the ADA, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons have asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a meeting to address “significant concerns” about limited access to dental rehabilitation surgery in hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical centers for children and adults with special needs and disabilities. “We attribute most of this access challenge to the lack of a sustainable billing mechanism for hospitals and [ambulatory surgical centers] to report dental surgical services in both Medicare and Medicaid,” the groups wrote in a letter to the CMS. They called for a new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code for dental surgical procedures performed under general anesthesia, and for payments to be at a rate reflecting the costs involved, based on Medicare data.

Clearly, the issue of providing access to care and improving treatment outcomes for populations who have disabilities is a pressing, multifaceted one, and no amount of charitable programming is going to significantly move that needle toward success. Still, with its limited resources, the Foundation continues to support efforts within its mission to help dentists provide such care to patients in need.

One such vehicle is the NYSDF Gold Fund, a grant program to assist people who live with disabilities receive necessary oral health treatment.

Dentists who wish to help treat patients must show in an application (available at www.nysdentalfoundation.org) what their treatment plan is. If approved for funding, the treating dentist must provide a sixmonth follow-up review with specifics on how the Gold Fund was used to enrich the overall health of patients. Monies can only be used to support direct dental treatment.

Additionally, the Foundation is preparing to unveil its newest continuing education offering, “Dental Management of Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease.” The course was developed by NYSDF Trustee Dr. Carl Tegtmeier; Dr. Miriam R. Robbins, director, Care Center for Persons with Disabilities; and Elizabeth Smith-Boivin, director, Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York. Check the Foundation website (www.nysdentalfoundation.org) for news of its availability. z