UIC Dental Students to Run Clinic at Homeless Support Center

University of Illinois at Chicago dental students don't have to wait until they graduate to manage their own clinic or help the underserved.

The first student-operated oral health care center in Chicago will open in early August at Goldie's Place, a 12-year-old organization that assists adults who are homeless to become self-sufficient through employability, employment and supportive services. Goldie's Place has moved to a new location at 5705 N. Lincoln Ave.

"There are very few sources of dental care available to people who are homeless," said Johanna Dalton, executive director of Goldie's Place. "Yet exhibiting good dental hygiene and being pain-free are essential elements of employability and maintaining stable employment."

The UIC students will perform routine dental services such as extractions, cleanings and fillings. The new clinic will have separate laboratory and sterilization rooms, where students will be trained in making molds, crowns and dentures. Because the clinic will be self-contained, it will have the potential to offer services outside regular office hours, Dalton said.

"With the greater availability of space and hours, part of our long-term plan is to expand volunteer staffing to include dental hygienists and oral surgeons."

This is the second time the clinic has been upgraded. In 1997, Dr. William Bjork began offering dental services at Goldie's Place "just for the joy of helping others," Dalton said. The clinic had only one chair and limited equipment. In 2002, the VNA Foundation provided some funding to modernize the dental operations and this year provided a $20,000 grant toward the construction costs of the new clinic.

Henry Schein Cares, the foundation arm of Henry Schein, Inc., has provided equipment, supplies and services to help the clinic get up and running and has made a commitment for continued support. With three additional chairs and related items on loan from the UIC College of Dentistry, "Goldie's Place will be in a position to expand services to the community," Dalton said.

More than 2,000 homeless adults have received dental care through Goldie's Place Dental Services Program, Dalton said. Over the years additional dentists were recruited to help Dr. Bjork, and with the addition of UIC dental students, more clients can now be treated.

UIC requires all fourth-year dental students to participate in community-based service-learning experiences that provide tangible benefits to the communities. The college already partners with 15 sites throughout the Chicago area, Rockford, Colorado and Guatemala.

"One of our current goals is to prepare an oral health care workforce that is competent in and committed to addressing the oral health needs of vulnerable and underserved populations and to play its part in eliminating health disparities," said Dr. Caswell Evans, associate dean of prevention and public health sciences. "We believe working with Goldie's Place will help us achieve this goal."

The UIC student chapter of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry has been the driving force behind the Goldie's Place project. When immediate past co-presidents Esther Lopez and Chernara Baker asked members if they would be willing to participate, all enthusiastically agreed. But they thought they could learn more than just how to treat patients.

"We felt we could manage the entire clinic," said Baker, who graduated in May and hopes to volunteer her time at Goldie's Place on Saturdays. "We were extremely excited about the idea of having a student-run clinic."

For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu.

 

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