Newcomers all smiles after free volunteer dental clinic

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This article was published 05/11/2016 (3270 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Saturday was anything but a regular day at the office for dozens of Manitoba dentists, hygienists, assistants and dental students.

As a blue balloon — made out of a disposable glove — bounced between cubicles at the University of Manitoba’s College of Dentistry, a dentist and two young girls chased after it. Around them, a maze of dental professionals examined, cleaned, filled and extracted teeth as part of Open Wide 2016, a one-day event to help refugees and other newcomers.

“Their needs are great, and the benefits that are afforded to them by the government are limited,” Dr. Carla Cohn, president of the Manitoba Dental Association, said. “We felt if we could do our part to help out and give these people a bit of a better start, then we would do that for them.”

The association and College of Dentistry holds an Open Wide clinic every few years to help people who otherwise couldn’t afford or access dental care. This year, Cohn said, they hope to treat about 400 refugees.

“We’ve got some of the people that have been in camps for years, not receiving any dental care. That’s not high on the list of priorities when you’re starving or trying to stay safe, so they come to us with a lot of unmet needs,” she said above the constant buzz of dental tools. “They can come to Canada and be taken care of, and this is our effort to help them with oral health.”

Every dentist and assistant volunteered their time for the event, which started at 8 a.m. on what’s usually their day off, and dental suppliers and manufacturers donated equipment and materials — including toothbrushes and toothpaste to take home — so the clinic was free to patients. Cohn said she hopes the treatment will help alleviate at least a few of the challenges these newcomers face.

“What we hope to be able to help is if somebody’s in pain, to get them out of pain,” Cohn said. “If they’ve got a broken tooth, to fix that tooth. It might not seem like a huge issue, (but) when you have a toothache, then that takes all of your head space, and that discomfort affects everything. It affects what you’re eating, how you’re feeling, how you’re thinking straight, so we want to be able to help people get out of pain and (give) emergency treatment.”

Cohn said anyone with healthy teeth would receive a cleaning and advice on good oral hygiene, but she anticipated most patients, like Mwashite Mbekalo, who moved to Canada from Tanzania in April, would have minor issues.

As Dr. Karina Gamboa, a pediatric dentist, examined Mbekalo, Cohn noted the 19-year-old had small cavities around her mouth, but she mentioned she saw another girl whose teeth were in much worse shape.

“For the whole family, it means a lot,” said Marian Braun, one of about two dozen parishioners of the Meeting Place sponsoring Mbekalo and her family. “It’s been really fabulous to realize the resources that are available in Winnipeg for newcomers.”

She said the family sometimes struggles with language barriers (the family of seven speaks Swahili, and the father and two oldest daughters also speak French), but Open Wide was prepared with volunteer interpreters and intake forms in different languages.

“I think they’re feeling safe,” Braun said, echoing one of Cohn’s hopes for the event.

“A lot of these people… they come from a lot of unrest,” Cohn said. “When you get a white coat in front of you, sometimes that’s a little scary, so I think it takes a big effort to get people into the clinic.”

Dr. Tom Colina, a dentist and one of Open Wide’s co-chairmen, agrees. While the clinic helps treat immediate dental issues, he hopes it also helps refugees feel at home in Canada.

“Hopefully, we’re not just making their dental health, oral health better, but hopefully, we’re making them feel welcome in this new country.”

danielle.doiron@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @dmdoiron