Special Needs Dentist giving vulnerable people a reason to smile

Special Needs Dentist giving vulnerable people a reason to smile

07 Jul 2022

Earlier this year, Dr Thomas Nguyen joined St Vincent’s Dental team led by Dr Peter Foltyn, to specifically care for some of our most vulnerable community groups. As a Special Needs Dentist, Thomas’ role is dedicated to treating people facing adversity, usually with complex medical and social challenges.

The Special Needs Dentistry Clinic sees people who may have substance dependencies, experiencing homelessness, living with mental ill health, as well as those who have been incarcerated or are facing incarceration. Often these patients have significant dental decay and broken down teeth.  

“The needs of these patients are greater than those of the general population, they need broader and more specialised dental care”, said Dr Nguyen.

 “It’s a really important service because these vulnerable groups don’t have great access to dental care. Dentistry is often not a priority for them, but it’s important for them to receive dental care because a lot of patients from these groups are actually in a lot of dental pain”. 

“Our team includes a dental hygienist who can help improve oral habits, as well as restorative treatments. We can extract teeth that are very heavily broken down, taking away their pain and giving them a new fresh smile with the help of dentures and other replacement options”.

Additionally, working alongside patients’ case workers and peer support workers, the special needs dentistry service is in a unique position to screen for other diseases, such as oral cancer. With collaborative access to theatres, as well as medical and nursing teams, Dr Nguyan has been able to recognise and escalate larger medical issues linked to dental disease, earlier. 

Across the State, there are few other dental services dedicated to serving vulnerable groups across our community as part of their holistic recovery.

“It’s great that St Vincent’s recognised there was a need for this. Teeth are so important when it comes to feeling confident, having social connection and finding a job”.  It’s really rewarding to be able to see the change by bringing back the smile to the lives of these patients”, Dr Nguyen said.

This Clinic has been funded through St Vincent’s Curran foundation.