Community connection
The Dental Outreach Community Service program is bringing much-needed, free dental care to patients in London, Ontario
By Emily Leighton, MA’13
Walking into a Dental Outreach Community Service (DOCS) clinic on a weekday evening in London, Ontario is to witness true community-building in action.
And amid the cheerfully decorated walls of the Boys & Girls Club of London, portable dental chairs and bright lamps, it’s the people who stand out as the true pillars of this outreach effort.
“We focus on the human aspect of dentistry, the connection of the student to the patient,” explained Dr. Les Kalman, DDS’99, chair of the DOCS program.
This scene takes place throughout the year, as the clinic rotates among community agencies and centres across the city to deliver free dental care to low-income families and individuals with no dental insurance.
DOCS has become a flagship of Schulich Dentistry’s educational experience. Started by Dr. Ken Wright in 2008, the program has evolved from a coordinated volunteer effort to a mandatory curriculum component for fourth-year students.
Initial screenings take place at the community agencies, including examinations and treatment plans. Follow-up appointments and comprehensive treatments are completed at the School’s main clinic on the Western University campus.
With this approach, the program is delivering high-quality oral health care where it’s needed most desperately.
“Some patients haven’t been to the dentist in years or even decades,” explained Dr. Kalman. “The goal is to take away the barriers to care they may be facing and to provide this service in a setting where our patients will be comfortable.”
One of the DOCS patients, who chose to remain anonymous, knows of this personalized care first-hand. “My teeth were in bad condition, but the students and professors were very attentive and informative,” he said. “It has helped me and countless others in times of need. I’m very grateful for my cavityfree, healthy smile.”
This appreciative patient is a great example of the shared benefits the program facilitates. While DOCS provides community members with free dental care, it simultaneously offers unique learning opportunities for students, bringing a variety of new cases to the curriculum.
“We focus on the human aspect of dentistry,
the connection of the student to the patient.”
—Dr. Les Kalman
“The educational component is at the core of the program,” explained Dr. Kalman. “It’s about exposing students to a population that has challenges they may not be aware of otherwise.”
Dr. Pennie Thornton, DDS’81, a London dentist and DOCS volunteer, also appreciates the significant advantage of this exposure. “The DOCS experience rounds our students as people and as practitioners,” she said.
With the essential support of local dentists like Dr. Thornton, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry staff and faculty members, private donors and the community agencies, DOCS facilitates upward of 200 appointments and delivers more than $40,000 in academic dental fees each year.
With this level of invested commitment in the city’s oral health, the community-building has an impact beyond the walls of individual DOCS clinics. “We’re showing that Schulich Medicine & Dentistry is part of the London community,” said Dr. Kalman.
As the clinic at the Boys & Girls Club closes for the evening and the equipment is packed away, it is clear that for all involved, DOCS is about more than simply fixing teeth.
“We’re giving people back their smiles, their confidence and their community,” said Dr. Kalman. “And we’re also teaching our students that there’s a patient attached to every tooth.”
