Students Volunteer at Clinic in Malden, Ma to Improve Oral Health

Several months ago, Tufts Dental students Ross Icyda and Hubert Park searched for a way to improve the oral health of under served people in the Boston area. They learned of the Sharewood Clinic (http://Sharewood.info) located at the First Presbyterian Church on Pleasant St in Malden. Tufts University Medical students operate this free medical clinic. They provide basic medical services and education. Icyda and Park received a Schweitzer Fellowship (www.schweitzerfellowship.org) to incorporate dental services into the Sharewood Clinic. The Tufts Sharewood dental effort has no additional funding.

Dental students often spend more time in school than the rest of us spend working. Their days include class, studying, and dental lab work. They are assigned to care for patients in the school clinic. They spend long nights preparing for school. Even so, Park and Icyda report that they have no problem finding students to volunteer for Sharewood.

Sharewood opens on the first and third Tuesdays every month. On Tuesday July 6, 2010, there were several pre-dental students from Tufts University and other colleges manning the reception desk. Their task is to assist clients who may not speak English well to fill out health history and information forms. This is a bright, friendly, impressive group. They are excited to be helping people and learning about healthcare. This night, they aided several medical patients and two dental.

Second, third and fourth year dental students worked as a team to interview and examine patients similarly to the way they examine new and emergency patients when in the school clinic. (First year students will not begin their studies until August.) The dental students practice under the supervision and license of a Tufts University School of Dental Medicine instructor. On the night of July 6, the author filled that role.

The dental students interview a female patient. She reveals that she is a college professor and political refugee, new to the United States. Her personal story is poignant and fascinating. She is suffering frequent, unrelenting pain that she believes is coming from a tooth with a large silver filling.

The dental students performed a thorough dental examination. This patient received extensive, up to date dental care in her home country. The students complement her dedication to home care (brushing and flossing). They record their findings. Greg Tentindo, Tufts Dental class of 2011, compiles findings from all of their patients in the Sharewood clinic for publications and applications for grants to support the clinic.

The dental students determined that this patient's tooth needed root canal treatment and a crown. The students called in the instructor to confirm their findings. The dental students explained their recommendation to the patient. After discussion among the instructor, the students and the patient, the students refer the patient to the Yawkey Ambulatory Care Clinic at the Boston Medical Center. Yawkey offers free extraction services available on a first come first served basis. The patient appreciated the information. However, she did not want to lose her tooth. She chose, instead, to continue to live with her pain.

Later, I asked Hubert Park, Tufts Dental School class of 2011, about the referral to Yawkey. "We also offer TUSDM as an option to our clients, as some of them are able to afford the fees at TUSDM but just were not aware of the dental services available or what kind of dental issues they had (this is where our screenings came most useful)."

What is the future of the dental side of the Sharewood clinic? Icyda pointed out that adding services such as dental treatments complicate the mission of Sharewood to diagnose, refer and educate. Providing treatment raises the level of administrative and managerial hurtles. Park presents an alternate plan. "Ideally we'd like to provide basic dental care on-site, be it radiographs, [dental cleaning], and extractions or [fillings]. However, we're approaching this topic with much caution as we don't want to start something hastily which may end up becoming a huge operational mess."

According to Sharewood's website, "All services are free and open to everyone, including the uninsured." The clinic is open every Tuesday from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. The dental clinic is open from 7:15 to 9:00 PM on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Sharewood's phone number at Tufts is (617) 636-2435. Hubert Park offers to answer questions about the dental clinic through his personal email, HubertPark@gmail.com.