|
|
|
Outreach Programs
- Community service is a point of strong emphasis at the Ohio
State University College of Dentistry, in line with the
University’s three pronged mission of teaching, research and
service. In Dentistry, a key form of service is patient care.
The College of Dentistry offers one of the University’s leading
outreach programs, which takes care of the dental needs of the
community with emphasis on serving the underserved. Dental
students are an integral part of this work. Students have the
opportunity to increase their skills while providing a valuable
service. They also learn to work with patients from a range of
different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, including
developmentally disabled, children, adults and elderly
(ambulatory, institutionalized, urban and rural), disadvantaged
and medically complex patients.
- The Outreach and Engagement Program activities throughout
the school continues to expand and currently the school can
boast of over 60 active programs with over 42 extra mural sites.
Our objectives are to increase the awareness of the significance
Outreach and Engagement to the community among students, faculty
and staff. The Outreach and Engagement section of the College of
Dentistry website continues to serve our patient community,
partners, students, faculty, staff and administration at the
University. The site is updated periodically and new features
are being added continuously. Currently, the outreach program
operates the following dental care programs in central and
southern Ohio:
- The OHIO Project is a major aspect of the College of Dentistry
outreach program, providing dental services to underserved
Ohioans at more than 15 clinic sites in central and southern
Ohio, with high student involvement. The program is funded
through a five-year, $1.5 million “Pipeline, Profession and
Practice” grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. One
exciting aspect of the Ohio project is the Dental H.O.M.E.
(Health Outreach Mobile Experience) Coach, a full size bus
equipped with three dental operatories, which serves children in
need within the Columbus Public Schools.
- The Appalachian Geriatric Dental Program was launched in 2001
in cooperation with The Area Agency on Aging #7, Inc., to
provide rural elderly patients residing in 10 Appalachian
counties in south eastern Ohio with comprehensive dental care.
Over 300 patients are seen annually.
- The Geriatric Dental Nursing Home Program continues to provide
comprehensive dental care to residents in 15 nursing homes and
adult day care facilities in Franklin County and other counties
with a combined total of 3210 residents in central Ohio. The
program is funded by patient fees and Medicaid. It was expanded
in 1998 from an earlier homebound program that started in 1960s.
- The Geriatric Dental Clinic is a half day weekly clinic within
the College of Dentistry that provides comprehensive care for
more than 250 ambulatory elderly patients.
- The Columbus Mobile Dental Clinic
(closed until
further notice) is located in downtown
Columbus at 1405 S. High Street, operates every Monday and will
provide services to at least 700 patients annually. Its mission
is to serve the underserved elderly population as well as
younger population of this area in addition to migrant workers
and those who lack insurance or are underinsured. This Project
is in collaboration with the College of Medicine and the College
of Optometry. The Columbus Mobile Dental Clinic at 1405 S. High
Street will provide quality comprehensive dental care with
services that include: 1. Oral health exam, annual check up and
oral cancer screening 2. Restoration of decayed teeth (fillings)
3. Extraction of non-restorable teeth 4. Repair and relining of
dentures 5. Treatment of oral diseases (Ulcerations, dry mouth,
cleaning, prophylaxis) 6. Preventive dental care including
fluoride treatment and placement of sealants for children. In
all the four previously mentioned Geriatric Dental Programs, 5
senior students, 1 dental assistant, a clinic coordinator and a
supervising faculty member are transported in a van with mobile
dental equipment to these sites where comprehensive dental care
is provided.
- The Tobacco Cessation Clinic was launched in the year 2001 for
the purpose of assisting individuals interested in quitting
tobacco use. This weekly clinic is staffed by a faculty,
student, and a dental assistant. In addition, a behavioral
consultant is also available. Two patients are scheduled weekly.
Patients will be treated over three visits. The first visit
consist of examination and determining patient quiting date and
prescribing of medication. The second visit patient receive
behavioral modification and follow-up. The third visit consists
of dental cleaning. Patients are followed for minimum of six
months after quitting date.
- The Children's Hospital Dental Clinic is located at the
Columbus City Center and Began in 1970 with funding from
Children’s Hospital. The Clinic Serves poor and minority
children of Columbus as well as providing endodontic service for
individuals up to 21 years of age.
- The College of Dentistry Emergency Program provides care and
education for dental emergencies of adult Central Ohio residents
- The Coshocton Children's Dental Clinic is a joint project
between the OSU College of Dentistry, Section of Pediatric
Dentistry and the Children's Dental Clinic of Coshocton, a
private foundation. The clinic provides dental care for Medicaid
and poverty level children.
- The Dental Care for Handicapped Preschoolers at Johnstown
Project provides care and education to mentally and physically
handicapped and other preschool children for students from the
College of Dentistry and Columbus Children's Hospital. The
Johnstown Road Clinic began in 2003 and is funded through ODH
serving community population.
- Dental Hygiene Program provides multiple outreach and
engagement activities for central Ohio residents and education
for dental hygiene students. For example: The Head Start Program
which began in February of 2002 provides screening, oral hygiene
instructions, and applied fluoride varnish to 653 children, ages
3-5 and is funded by the Sam Harris Foundation.
- Dental Hygiene students provide sealant treatment for
underserved children of Coshocton County. Faculty and students
volunteer time and materials. This program started in 1987.
- Other Dental Hygiene Outreach Programs: Minority Fitness and
Health Professional Career Fair, Jump Start Health Fair,
Minority Health Matters Health Fair, Franklin County Board of
Health & Wellness Fair, Asian Health Fair, Women’s Students’
Health Fair, Centennial High School Health Fair, Ohio Avenue
School Health Fair, Parkmoor Urban Academy Career Day, Women in
Science Day, Asian Festival, Special Olympic Special Smile
Program, Columbus International Festival Health Fair –
Kensington Village, Columbus Dental Society Mouthguard Program,
Mom’s Study Group, Columbus Public Schools Health Service
Workers Health Fair, WIC Symposium Health Fair, MedCentral
Health Systems Health Fair 116 Oral Health presentations in
Central Ohio in daycare centers, elementary and middle schools,
nursing homes and special population groups. Dental Hygiene
students participate in the following Outreach and Engagement
activities. Oral hygiene screenings, cleanings, instructions in
the practice of good oral hygiene. They also took part in health
fairs located throughout Columbus and included the following
locations; University Hospital East, Southside Community Action
Center, Columbus International Festival Celebration of Wellness
and Healthful Living, the Franklin County Board of Health 2003
Health and Wellness Fair and they participated in Ohio Dental
Association’s Make a Kid Smile Day. The students also
participated at many of the Give Kids a Smile Sessions and
assisted Childrens’ Hospital Dental Clinic Staff with Oral
Screenings at 6 different sites. As part of their practicum the
students also assist the staffs of The Ohio Department of
Health, Bureau of Oral Health Services; University Hospitals,
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Veterans Hospital, The
Veterans Hospital, American Cancer Society, Columbus City Health
Department Dental Clinic, Dental Center of Northwest Ohio
Toledo, and The Dental Clinic of Coshocton in Coshocton, Ohio.
- The General Practice Dentistry Residency (GPR) engage in a
variety of outreach activities, including the following: This
program is the primary resource for special-needs patients in a
large part of Ohio including those people with disabilities, the
frail elderly, the medically frail, those with developmental
disorders, requiring treatment in the hospital or in the
operating room and under various forms of anesthesia (general
and conscious sedation). Referrals from the geriatric program
are also treated in this program. The program is self-funded by
patient and Medicaid fees. General Practice residents and
faculty participate in the annual international dental/medical
mission in Honduras, Central America. (February 2006) GPR
Residents and faculty participate in Special Olympics on an
annual basis. Next planned participation will be June 2005.
- Graduate Dental Clinics provide specialty dental care for Ohio
residents and education for graduate students.
- The Honduras Dental Healthcare Project consists of a team of
dentists and healthcare specialists that provide basic dental
care to indigent natives in remote areas of Honduras, Central
America, targeting indigent natives in remote areas of Honduras,
Central America.
- The Section of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at OSU has been
for a number of years now the provider of dental care for the
population in prisons and other correctional facilities in our
state. With an average of 800 outpatient visits per year and 110
major surgical cases performed in the operating rooms at OSU
Hospital, this activity provides care for a subgroup of the
state population that sometimes is forgotten by others. Both
residents and faculty alike participate in the surgical care of
these individuals. Also, the Section of Oral & Maxillofacial
Surgery provides care to patients with cleft lip and palate as
well as other craniofacial deformities under the auspices of
Children's Hospital of Columbus. An average of 60 to 80 of these
young patients receive care every year, mainly by Dr. Peter
Larsen and the oral and maxillofacial surgery residents.
- La Clinica Latina is a free dental clinic which provides
limited dental services to the Hispanic community in Central
Ohio.
- The Nisonger Center Dental Center serves a developmentally
disabled population of mainly adults from Franklin County. The
dental clinic provides a full range of dental services or
referral for clients. Students in dentistry, dental hygiene,
pediatric dentistry and general practice residency serve as
clinician-trainees and learn care of special patients at Nisonger.
- The Orthodontics Department’s Children’s Hospital Dental
Clinic Craniofacial Abnormalities Program, Columbus, Ohio is
funded by Medicaid and BCMH and targets underserved population
in the Columbus area.
- State Science Day, Columbus, Ohio features volunteers who
provide dental health care advice to children in grades 7-12.
- The faculty in the Orthodontic department participate in a new
research project starting March 1, 2004 in a pilot program on
smokeless tobacco cessation in Hocking, Morgan, and Washington
counties. This program is funded by The Ohio's TUPCF, in
collaboration with the OSU Extension and Nursing College.
- OSU Hospital Dental Emergency provides care for after-hours
dental emergencies of adult Central Ohio residents.
- The Section of Periodontology began in November 2002 to
provide services in collaboration with the Central Ohio Diabetes
Association Annual Health Fair in Dublin Ohio. Volunteers serve
the community population.
- Netwellness Consulting: faculty provides answers to questions
related to oral health posted by the public on the web.
- The Section of Restorative and Prosthetic Dentistry conducts
an annual oral cancer screening in collaboration with the
Columbus Dental Society and the American Cancer Society Franklin
County as well as The Columbus Iodine Deficiency Disorder
Screening Program with The Kiwanis Club of for Central and
Southeast Ohio.
For additional information please contact:
Dr.Abdel R. Mohammad
Professor of Geriatric Dentistry
Director of Outreach & Engagement Programs
OSU College of Dentistry
305 W.12th Avenue
Columbus,Ohio 43210
|
