Lasting Impressions | Winter 2014

18 x LASTING IMPRESSIONS None of these patients are likely to be seen in the average dental practice, but it is an every- day occurrence for the faculty members and students at the clinic operated by Nova South- eastern University’s College of Dental Medicine in North Miami Beach. NSU’s dental school has a long history of treating patients who would otherwise have trouble getting needed care, said Diane Ede-Nichols, D.M.D., M.H.L., M.P.H., chair of Community Dentistry for NSU’s College of Dental Medicine. Through the years, dental stu- dents, graduate students, and faculty members have provided treatment in such settings as the Women In Distress shelter for battered women—repairing damage from broken teeth and battered jaws, the Ryan White HIV-AIDS Clinic in Oakland Park, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood—treating children with cranial-facial prob- lems, and the Baudhuin Pre- school at the Mailman Segal Center—providing dental care for autistic children and other youngsters with special needs. The NSU students and faculty members also have treated jail inmates and women in a drug rehabilitation facility. The stu- dents have done rotations in rural settings, which helps these future dentists decide if they would want to practice in under- served areas after graduation. “People who are disabled, medically compromised, home- bound, or institutionalized are at increased risk for dental diseases,” Ede-Nichols said. “But these indi- viduals encounter great difficul- ties finding dentists able to offer them care in a typical private practice setting.” Ede-Nichols, who received her dental degree from New Jersey’s Fairleigh Dickinson College of Dental Medicine and completed a general practice residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, also has a master’s degree in health law from NSU’s Shepard Broad Law Center and a master’s degree in public health from the NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine. She said the goal of the special needs program is to increase the number of dentists who have the knowledge and confidence to provide dental care to people with challenging physical, medical, and behav- ioral needs. All graduating seniors in NSU’s dental school have a one- day-a-week rotation through the Special Care Clinics over a five- week period, while others— including eight first-year resi- dents and four second-year resi- dents—provide dental care there full time. The residents focus on treating people with acquired and/or developmental disabili- ties, as well as those who have special challenges such as phys- ical movement or communica- tion difficulties. Florida, along with the rest of the nation, is fac- ing a severe shortage of dentists who have the experience and skills to serve this population. “From the age of 15 up, we treat anyone with a developmen- tal disability—Down’s, autism, or some kind of syndrome with intellectual delay. We treat the frail elderly—someone with Alz- heimer’s or Parkinson’s or stroke patients,” Ede-Nichols said. “We treat people with disabilities acquired from near drowning, motor vehicle accidents, or deal- ing with severe drug problems as well.” Until the fall of 2012, these special needs patients were seen at NSU’s main campus in the Davie-Fort Lauderdale area, but then the clinic moved to NSU’s North Miami Beach facil- ity at 1750 NE 167th Street. It now shares a building with the general dentistry, medical, and