Mobile Dentistry

One of the challenges care givers face is properly identifying and caring for the patient's specific medical needs.  Imagine being an untrained carer who is caring for your relative who has Alzheimer's.  The Alzheimer's may make it difficult for your relative to express discomfort due to illness or even a cavity in a tooth.  The Alzheimer's also impacts the individual's mobility.  As a result, maintenance care such as teeth cleaning becomes increasingly difficult if not impossible.

In Albuquerque, a dental hygienist realized many of her long-time customers were no longer visiting the practice.  As a result, she established a nonprofit, mobile dental clinic which brings the dental care to the elderly and disabled patients who are no longer able to come into the office to receive care.  Through the nonprofit, they are currently able bring care directly to about 200 patients at this time.  

This service is an exceptional idea which is apparently the first in the nation.  It reminds me of the scene from the 2005 animated movie Robots in which the character Bigweld says "See a need, fill a need."

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