East Carolina University broke ground on its sixth dental clinic this week, and two more are opening this winter. This week on the Down East Journal, an overview of the clinics and how they’re improving access to oral healthcare in underserved areas of North Carolina.
This week, East Carolina University broke ground on a new dental clinic in Thomasville, called a Community Service Learning Center. The 7,700 square foot facility will give fourth year dental students an opportunity to hone their skills as they provide oral healthcare services to underserved areas in and around Davidson County. The center will be a needed facility to help make up for the shortfall in access to dental healthcare in our state. Dean of ECU’s School of Dental Medicine Dr. Greg Chadwick says North Carolina is ranked 47th in the nation in dentists per capita.
“When you look nationally, all away across the country, the large states and the small states, that number is about six dentists per 10,000. North Carolina’s average is about 4.4 dentists per 10,000.”
Dr. Chadwick explains that interpreting North Carolina’s statistics are complicated because there’s a wide variance between urban and rural areas of the state. He says the state is broken down into fifteen counties considered urban, which include the Triangle, Charlotte, Greensboro and Asheville, and 85 rural counties. Urban areas have 5 or more dentists per 10,000 people. But in rural areas, the average is three dentists per 10,000 people, or less. Three counties in eastern North Carolina don’t have dentists at all.
“Camden County, Tyrell and Hyde are the three counties are the three counties that at this point don’t have a dentists. And one of those, Gates County now has a dentist that drives in from Virginia.”
To make up for the shortage in dentists and oral healthcare in the state, East Carolina University currently operates four community service learning centers, two of which are here in eastern North Carolina.
“The first one was in Ahoskie, and that’s been in operation for about two and a half years. The second one is in Elizabeth City and it’s been in operation for about two years.”
There’s also community service learning centers in Sylva and Lillington. Centers in Spruce Pine and Robeson County are set to open this winter, and another in Brunswick County is scheduled for completion in late spring 2015. In Elizabeth City, where they’re already seeing patients, Director of the Community Service Learning Center Dr. Carol Anderson says they help around 35 people on a daily basis.
“Being in an area that’s been historically underserved, you might well expect we have quite a few urgent needs that need to be addressed. But we also see a lot of children. We’ve put a lot of focus on children and preventative care here in Elizabeth City, doing the baby oral health exams and just trying to get the kids to the point where they’re not going to need a lot of restorative services in the future.”
Like all of the centers, the Elizabeth City facility offers comprehensive general dentistry, oral surgery, root canals, sealants and tooth colored fillings, crowns and bridges, dentures, and implant services.
Patients travel long distances to receive dental care from the Elizabeth City center. Dr. Anderson says they receive people from Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans counties. One aspect of the mission of ECU’s Community Service Leaning Centers is to improve access to oral healthcare in the state. Another is to give students experience working in a professional setting.
“We function more like a private practice, they get the experience of working with dental auxiliaries, dental assistants, dental hygienists. They also have the benefit of having the front desk schedule patients for them and do all of the business procedures. Also, they will get to see more patients during the course of the time they’re here.”
The dental students move to a different community service learning center every 6 to 8 weeks so they’re exposed to different environments and challenges. At the Elizabeth City facility, there’s currently four students performing dental procedures under the supervision of Dr. Anderson.
“We usually have a cluster of four, and I stay somewhere within that cluster most of the time. So I can get to them in any given moment if necessary. Most of the time, none of that happens but I’m always available.”
ECU’s Community Service Learning Centers are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. Medicaid and other insurance plans are accepted. Emergency services are provided on a walk in basis. For more information, go to http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/dental/Patient-Care.cfm
