special needs clinic C D A J O U R N A L , V O L 5 0 , Nº 6
NYU Dentistry Oral Health Center for People With Disabilities Ronald W. Kosinski, DMD
abstract In February 2019, the NYU Dentistry Oral Health Center for People With Disabilities (OHCPD), an 8,000-square-foot center designed to provide dental care for people with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities, opened its doors. The OHCPD provides much-needed comprehensive care for patients whose disabilities or medical conditions prevent them from receiving care in a conventional dental setting. Keywords: People with disabilities, vulnerable patients, training dentists
AUTHORS Ronald W. Kosinski, DMD, is the clinical director at the NYU Dentistry Oral Health Center for People With Disabilities and a clinical associate professor and director of pediatric sedation and anesthesia at the New York University College of Dentistry. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported.
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he purpose of this paper is to share the vision of the NYU Dentistry Oral Health Center for People With Disabilities and to encourage other dental schools to embrace this vision. NYU Dentistry has been committed to the goal of increasing access to oral health care for people with a range of disabilities for more than 50 years. Since 1971, the college has conducted a successful Special Patient Care Program, an honors program for a small group of exceptional dental students to gain experience caring for people with disabilities. About six years ago, the NYU Dentistry leadership made the decision to vastly expand the care offered to people with disabilities and the education and training provided for future practitioners, preparing them to provide compassionate, comprehensive oral health care for
these patients across the lifespan. This decision was motivated by an experience NYU Dean Charles N. Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc, had while preparing to cross East 24th Street in Manhattan, just outside the college’s main clinical building. Dr. Bertolami saw a disabled man in a wheelchair waiting for an Access-A-Ride van to pick him up, and he realized that the person’s disabilities were preventing him from holding his head steady. At that moment he became acutely aware that, “We can do better, we must do better.” Motivated by this vision, Dr. Bertolami wrote a white paper describing in detail the kind of treatment and educational facility he had in mind, and he asked Executive Vice Dean Michael O’Connor EdD, MPA, to explore the concept of an oral health center for people with disabilities that JUNE 2 0 2 2
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