Lasting Impressions | Winter 2014

NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE x 19 optometry clinics. This reloca- tion enables the special needs dentistry clinic to serve a broader patient population in both Bro- ward and Miami-Dade counties. NSU’s special needs clinic is one of only a few in Florida, so it draws patients from across the state. Tuesdays and Thursdays are among the busiest days because residents of two group homes in Fort Myers are transported to the clinic for their dental care. Because many of these patients are nonverbal or don’t always understand what is being done for them, special techniques are used to calm them and sometimes rewards are offered—strat- egies necessary to help them cooperate in their care, Ede-Nichols said. “We use the ‘tell, show, do’ method,” she said. “We tell them what we’re going to do, show them, and then do it. ‘I’m going to count your teeth,’ use the tool to show them, touch them, then do it.” Some patients require oral sedation or are placed on a papoose board, wrap- ping them up so they feel safe, she said. With others, positive reinforcement—a reward system—works. “We try to find out what they like—a particular food, a partic- ular musical artist—and if they like Beyonce, for example, we can pull [a singing performance] up on a computer screen and it distracts them. We sometimes use diet soda, or toy giveaways, different kinds of little rewards,” she said. “We’ll put it where they can see it so they can focus on it.” Although it is a team effort often requiring from two to six people to treat each patient, only the lead dentist speaks to the patients—explaining, soothing, letting them know they will get a break soon, she said. “We use ‘one voice.’ Usually the providing dentist takes command of that ship. They will say things like ‘look into my eyes.’ Even with people very minimally alert, you can command their attention,” Ede-Nichols said. “We have a fabulous staff at the clinic that reinforces these concepts, and has the patience to work with these individuals.” Some patients have more complex problems that can’t be treated at the clinic. When that is the case, they are taken to either Joe DiMaggio Chil- dren’s Hospital in Hollywood or to Broward Health Medical Cen- ter in Fort Lauderdale. “Our goal is to create a pool of practitioners who can care for these patients,” Ede-Nichols said. One such practitioner is student Arwa Alwehaib, a married mother of two who was a practicing dentist in her native Iraq before she and her family came to the United States. She worked as a dental assistant for two years before she got into the NSU program. Her husband, also a dentist in Iraq, now works as a dental assistant. He plans to pursue his dental degree once his wife is fin- ished with school. Alwehaib said that she knows she and the others at the special needs clinic are making a difference for patients who might otherwise not be getting care. “I know patients are in pain by seeing what’s in their mouths, by tak- ing X-rays, even if they can’t say they are in pain,” Alwehaib said. Alwehaib said once she passes the dental board exam, she would like to continue work- ing with special needs patients, possibly in an underserved area in Florida. “I love my career, and I am willing to go forward with this as a specialty,” she said. “Every day, I feel blessed to be treating these patients.” ◆ FOUNDATION HELPS HEALTH HAPPEN The Henry Schein Cares Foundation’s mission “helps health happen.” It achieves this by supporting not-for- QSPmU PSHBOJ[BUJPOT JOTUJUVUJPOT BOE communities dedicated to health education and care for at-risk and underserved populations. The foundation has been instrumental in assisting NSU’s College of Dental Medicine in extending its community- based programs, supporting one of the university’s core values. In honor of the foundation’s generosity, the College of Dental Medicine’s Special Needs Clinic in North Miami Beach was renamed The Henry Schein Special Needs Clinical Suite.The clinic opened during the fall of 2012. The foundation gave $350,000 to the College of Dental Medicine’s clinic, this includes $100,000 in cash and an in-kind donation of $250,000. For more information about the founda- tion, visit www.hscaresfoundation.org. PAGE 16 AND LEFT: NSU’s Henry Schein Special Needs Clinical Suite treats patients from across the state.