Provider Voices

While attending dental school I had minimal interaction with treating patients living with intellectual/developmental disabilities.  That all changed when I attended the University of New Mexico, Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency.  Our residency facility in conjunction with the Carrie Tingley/UNM hospital were one of the few locations within the state that provided care to those with the most severe disabilities. 

Unfortunately, those that live with developmental/intellectual disabilities are historically underserved in terms of dental care.  They also carry a high burden of medical and dental disease and complexity.  One example is that many patients living with Down Syndrome are at risk for early onset periodontal disease.  This gum disease affects the tissues surrounding the teeth, often leading to chronic inflammation, pain when eating, and early tooth loss.  Untreated this disease process puts the patient’s overall health at risk and reduces quality of life.  This is just one of many examples of how this community is affected by oral health disease. 

We need to help this community of underserved people, we need everyone from dental professionals, dental corporations, community stakeholders, individuals, and caregivers to make a difference. 

Thank You!

-Keith

I wanted to update you on our ID Waiver patients, most of the patients with this coverage are seen in the OR at UMC by our faculty and residents. This program has been such a great thing for these patients. These patients are severely disabled and a lot of the time their parents/caregivers can not financially afford to pay for the services that were done in the OR. This has helped so many families and it is very nice to see how grateful these families are.

Thank you again! 

-Kelly