GARY AND MARY WEST SENIOR DENTAL CENTER INC
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center is to provide affordable, high-quality oral healthcare with comprehensive education, clinical, and wellness services for seniors in need, enabling them to live healthy, independent, and productive lives.
About This Cause
THE PROBLEM Despite significant advances in dentistry to prevent many oral healthcare issues, dental disease remains one of the most serious and widespread chronic health problems in America. The problem is even more severe among low-income seniors, who often lack access to care. • Financial realities force 41% of American seniors to choose between rent and nutrition each day. In such a scenario, dental care is rarely prioritized • And with 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day, and 70% of them having no dental insurance, a problem is rapidly turning into a crisis In our community, the urgent need for oral healthcare intervention was identified when many seniors at a bustling San Diego senior center were unable to eat the meals provided due to missing teeth and/or oral discomfort and pain. Seniors report that: • 77% have fair or poor oral health • 45% are missing teeth with no dentures/partials/implants • The top three barriers to care are high cost, transportation, and lack of providers accepting Medicaid Using an oral health surveillance tool to examine seniors' mouths, our Registered Dental Hygienist has found that: • 41% of seniors must be seen right away for dental treatment • 46% have untreated decay • 43% need periodontal care • 26% have severe gingival inflammation These troubles lead to a growing care gap and a cascading list of other problems that dramatically and negatively impact every aspect of a senior's life. For, although oral health is often and mistakenly compartmentalized from the rest of the body, it is inextricably linked to overall health and quality of life. THE SOLUTION To address these barriers and this critical unmet need, the Senior Dental Center was established, designed, staffed, and licensed as a community health clinic embedded within Serving Seniors' Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center, a larger community wellness hub in 2016. Our patients are screened, triaged, and their care is coordinated, all on-site. Every senior interested in services receives a comprehensive geriatric assessment and attends an oral health education workshop taught by a registered dental hygienist. With the great demand for oral healthcare services, our 2019 expansion of the Senior Dental Center is allowing us to further address this urgent need through an additional bold new model of care. The Senior Dental Center North County, co-located with GMW PACE serves seniors, 55 and older in accordance with the PACE eligibility requirements. PACE programs coordinate and provide all needed, preventative, primary, acute and long-term care services so that older adults can continue to live as independently as possible in the community. The PACE model utilizes interdisciplinary teams, making the co-location with a dental center a unique opportunity to incorporate the dental team with physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, therapists, van drivers, and aides. Our goals in dental treatment are to provide quality oral healthcare, re-engage seniors that have gone without services for extended periods of time, and ensure that the mouth is not treated in isolation. Through clinical treatment and teaching at the Senior Dental Center, we have been able to "reconnect" the mouth with the rest of the body and raise the profile of this vital barometer of health. Older adults can now access affordable oral healthcare services in a dental home that is co-located in a familiar and trusted setting, creating an innovative, integrated community-based system of care for older adults. To date, we have seen over 1,200 unique patients for over 13,000 visits. We have seen the amazing impact our services have had on not only seniors' functional ability to eat, speak and smile but also their renewed self-confidence and quality of life. Thank you for considering joining us in providing oral healthcare for seniors in need!