Lasting Impressions | Fall 2015

NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE © 25 hen Mission United—part of United Way of Bro- ward County—approached Nova Southeastern University about 1½ years ago looking for a way to help military veterans with pressing dental needs, there was no question the College of Den- tal Medicine would step up and become a partner. Now the college is a key participant in Give Vets a Smile, a program that includes referrals, free screenings, and pro bono treatment for Bro- ward County veterans by a network of volunteer dentists. Helping fill the gap in veterans’ dental care was a natural step for the college, said Robert Uchin, D.D.S., former CDM dean and now spe- cial assistant to the dean. “It’s involvement in the community,” Uchin said. “We’re teaching social responsibility to the dental students as well as technical responsibility. We’re trying to produce the most humane, caring, well-prepared individuals to practice health care relief in the dental field.” And involvement with the community is one of NSU’s Core Values. “Social responsibility and communal responsibility are part of being a pro- fessional. That’s part of our culture,” Uchin said, “to teach by example and participation.” CDM SCREENING The CDM’s role is critical to the program, which is part of Mission United, United Way’s effort to help veterans and their families reaccli- mate to civilian life. During a Mission United Advisory Board meeting in 2014, Ray Ferrero, J.D., NSU chancel- lor and a former marine, and Kimberly Durham, Psy.D., chair of the Department of Justice and Human Services in the College of Arts, Human- ities, and Social Services, worked together to come up with a plan. Ferrero and Durham, both advisory board members, called the initial meet- ing with Thomas Ellis, senior director of Mission United; Linda Niessen, D.M.D., M.P.H., M.P.P., CDM dean; Uchin; Michael Patten, D.D.S., pro- fessor; and others. Ellis and Durham drew up the structure of how the referrals would work. The group quickly moved from “Why is this needed?” to “How do we implement it,” Ellis recounted. Veterans face a gap in getting dental care, explained Ellis. After they’re discharged, there’s just a small window of time when they qualify for Veterans Affairs (VA) dental care. Then they’re quickly left with nothing, unless it’s provided by an employer or they buy expensive insurance on their own. The first contact for a veteran in need is Mis- sion United, which completes basic intake infor- mation and refers the veteran to Patten, a CDM faculty member in prosthodontics. Patten does an initial, 30-minute screening, and the veteran is referred to one of 32 volunteer dentists. REACHING OUT So far, about 20 veterans have received help through Give Vets a Smile. “For us, it’s a way of reaching out to the community,” said Patten, an Air Force veteran. “I can’t ask a dentist to do a $10,000 or $15,000 job for somebody, but the den- tists can help a patient get out of pain and get his smile back.” That was the case for Fred Roger (B.S. ’10, M.B.A. ’12), 32, a Marine Corps veteran from Fort Lauderdale, who suddenly had excruciating pain in a tooth this summer while on a trip to Chicago. “A dentist there gave me pain medica- tion, but said I needed to see a Florida dentist. I don’t have dental insurance, and it was going to be a $2,600, multistep process,” Roger said. BY ARNIE ROSENBERG W REACHING VETERANS COMMUNITY PROGRAM BRINGS DENTAL RELIEF