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New Volunteers Offering to Lend a Hand
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Dental Assistants:
Intisar Alam (Univ of Ottawa Student)
Enas Atatra (DDS, Saudia Arabia)
Pamela Bidawid (Univ of Ottawa Student)
Chantal Booker
Deena Nahar (DDS, Bagladesh)
Hygienists:
Shalini Muthurajah, RDH
Vanessa Rabinshaw, RDH
Allison Taylor, RDH
Dentists:
Cathy Deschenes, DDS
Joliann Joseph, DDS
Kevin Orser, DDS
Sailesh Pershad, DDS
Guillaume Tremblay, DDS
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Restoring Hope with No-Cost Dental Care
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We have recently connected with Restoring Hope a new homeless youth center in downtown Ottawa to help provide access to needed dental care for young men and women 15-19 living on the street. Every night in our nation’s capital, homeless teens are denied safe shelter due to a lack of available emergency beds for this specific vulnerable group within our community. These individuals are then forced to sleep in parks, parking garages, storefronts and other unsafe spaces. Staying in these places increases their risk of being robbed, assaulted or abused in some way. Sleeping on the streets can lead to an increase in depression, hopelessness and disconnection from society.Restoring Hope has obtained emergency shelter space in a local church (First Baptist Church @ Laurier/Elgin) in the downtown core where these homeless youth can have food and drinks while enjoying games and other fun activities. In addition, they can talk with a group of caring volunteers who offer a listening ear and support. The youth can then sleep in the church with volunteers watching over them. In the morning they are given a breakfast and also a lunch to take with them. Providing access to a safety net of dental treatment is just another step to help them know they are valued and connected to a caring community.
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“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”
St. Augustine Restoring Hope Ministries
“Where hope inspires change”
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 Ben Massell Dental Clinic in Atlanta Georgia has over 140 volunteer dentists who dedicate their time and expertise each month to people who otherwise would not have access to dental services. |
Do dental professionals have a moral duty to provide charity care? If they have the means to, should they? There are (at least) two central aspects of this issue, which might be termed ‘ethical’ and ‘political’. The first is about what we do as individuals; the second is about the role of dental charity and public policy.
This article urges us to think through these two issues when it comes to providing dental charity, and how these aspects connect and diverge in their relationship. In doing so, it highlights the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, one of America’s largest voluneer driven, faith-based dental centres, which provides a wide range of no-cost dental services to Atlanta’s neediest populations in a charity setting.
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Ottawa’s Margaret Lanouette is on the receiving end of Dr. Patrick Roy’s”generosity” with a new lower denture
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Local woman who lost denture waiting no more
Margaret Lanouette, 64 should have a new lower denture soon because Dr. Patrick Roy, a longtime Ottawa dentist, is going to have one made for her at no charge. “I just felt sad for her,” says Roy, who read a recentOttawa Citizen story about Lanouette losing her denture and not having any money for a new one. “It’s really nothing special. You can’t do it for everybody, but once in while …”
Roy, who has been practising dentistry for 36 years in Ottawa, was among scores of area residents who offered to help Lanouette one way or another when she lost her denture and wasn’t elligable for a replacement through the Ottawa Dental Public Health Denture program until 2016. All expressed relief for Lanouette once they learned that Roy had stepped in. Well done!
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PODS back at it with New Clinic Coordinator
Andrea Gould, Registered Restorative Dental Hygienist (RRDH)
We are pleased to introduce Andrea Gould, RRDH as the new clinic cooordinator for the Portable Ottawa Dental Service (PODS). She is replacing Anthea Chang, RDH who went back to school this September. Andrea – was born in Montreal – is fluently bilingual – has over 10 years experience – and LOVES her job!
Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.
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Donations
Susan Daftary, DDS
(anesthetic)
Bill Henry, DDS
(impression material, topical fluoride)
Charlie, McCambridge, DDS
(dental burs)
Kathering Riviere, RDH
(toothpaste, floss)
Bill Wayne, DDS
(gut sutures)
Cathy Wilkins, RDH
(gloves, masks, toothbrushes, floss)
Ottawa Dental Public Health Department
($10,000)
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Extreme Makeover: Mission Edition
Can’t thank Milident Dental Laboratory enough for their generosity in providing dentures at no-cost to our clients. Check this great company out here.
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Mission Possible: Half Marathon, 5K and Relay
The 4th annual
TELUS Mission Possible
Half Marathon and 5K event will be held Saturday, November 8th 2014 at the Marshes Golf Course on Terry Fox Drive in Kanata.
Last year, through sponsorship and pledges collected by some of the 300 runners who participated, about $10,000 was raised for The Ottawa Mission.
A portion of the proceeds support a special program at The Ottawa Mission that helps men who are homeless learn to run and also gain access to activities that promote physical fitness.
Want to Run? Register Here to join in the fun. See you there!
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Tom Harle, BSc, DDS, D(Pros), MSc, FICD(C) - Prosthodontic Dental Care
