ATSU opens advanced care dental clinic

The A.T. Still University of Health Sciences (ATSU) is gearing up to celebrate the official opening of its advanced care dental clinic.

The 10,600-sq-ft oral healthcare facility is Arizona's first clinic that specializes in providing comprehensive oral healthcare to patients whose physical or developmental disabilities require dentists with advanced training.

The clinic, which is expected to treat 7,500 people in its first year, began seeing patients in July. The official opening date is September 18.

Maureen Romer, DDS, the associate dean of postdoctoral education at ATSU's Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health who directs the clinic, is a fellow of the Academy of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities. Until now, some residents with complex medical situations and special needs had to go outside Arizona to get the care they required, while others got no care at all, she noted in a press release.

In addition to offering dental care to patients with cancer, hemophilia, kidney disease, organ transplants, and other complex medical conditions, the clinic treats patients, including those with disabilities, whose general dental needs are complicated and require a team of dental specialists.

The new clinic has been outfitted with more than $1 million in state-of-the-art equipment and technology. There are five dental operating suites, including one designed for patients who weigh more than 350 pounds. Extra-wide doorways make it easy for power wheelchairs to move through the facility.

In addition to serving as an outpatient dental facility, the clinic will be a training center in special care dentistry for students. Supervised by faculty members, third- and fourth-year dental students will treat clinic patients alongside dental residents in the dental school's postgraduate program.