Tufts Dental Facilities Serving Individuals with Disabilities (TDF), a network of clinics that provides oral healthcare to adults and children with intellectual, developmental, or acquired disabilities, has been announced as the winner of the William J. Gies Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Academic Dental Institution.
TDF is the only statewide oral healthcare network in the U.S. for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Tufts University School of Dental Medicine has operated these clinics throughout Massachusetts since 1976. The TDF clinics provide direct care to patients, train oral health practitioners, and have led to studies on the oral healthcare status of persons with I/DD.
To increase the capacity of community dentists to provide care to individuals with I/DD, all fourth-year students at Tufts dental school are trained in a special care rotation in TDF clinics. Additionally, dentists in the postgraduate general practice residency program spend about 25% of their time working with patients with I/DD. The clinics also provide training to dental assisting and dental hygiene students. This training program has also been partially extended to Maine.
"TDF is a national leader in fostering better health outcomes for patients with I/DD. The clinics provide a model for population-based care and for training dental practitioners to provide care to individuals with I/DD," stated Mark Nehring, DMD, professor in public health and community service and chair of the department of public health and community service at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, in a press release.
The award will be presented by the ADEAGies Foundation at a ceremony in March 2015.
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