Special Care Day provides dental care for children

Individuals with physical or mental disabilities often do not get the dental care they need, and Sharon Miller, dental hygiene instructor at Erie Community College, is helping to change that.

For the past five years, Miller has hosted a "Special Care Day" field trip at ECC's dental hygiene clinic in the Barzman Kazimov & Vieth D.D.S. P.C. Center at the college's North Campus, 6205 Main St., at Youngs Road, Williamsville.

Special Care Day, held three times a year, was originally designed to provide individuals with disabilities access to dental care. A large number of the underserved population for dental care is disabled, Miller said.

During the Special Care Day, ECC dental hygiene students provide dental services to individuals with physical and/or mental disabilities as part of their clinical requirement.

At the clinic, special education students are paired with dental hygiene students. Dental hygiene services include an oral exam, removal of plaque and tartar, X-rays, fluoride treatment and sealants. For fillings and other restorative work, patients are referred to the dental clinic at the University at Buffalo.

"I discovered by working with this group that 60 percent of the school population does not have dental care," Miller said. "The field trips are a great way to provide much-needed dental hygiene care for people who may not have access to dental care."

At the end of the day, "there are a lot of smiles," Miller said.

ECC is one of the few schools nationwide that devotes an entire semester to educating students on the special needs population, she noted. And as a result of Miller's course, two or three students per graduating class now choose to go into disabled care.

The dental hygiene clinic runs from September to June. All services are free. For more information, call 851-1336.