Martha Key, 94, didn’t have to leave her Lady Lake assisted living care facility to get her teeth checked and cleaned Wednesday — the dentist and hygienist came to her.
“It’s great because I don’t have to go out,” said Key, a resident of Lexington Park facility. “I love being able to get my teeth cleaned and checked, and I don’t have to have my daughter take me. This is a convenience, very much so.”
She’s a fan of Thrive Dentistry OnSite, a mobile dental practice started by Dr. Don Ilkka that provides dental care at seven assisted living and memory care facilities in Lake and Sumter counties. It soon will be expanded to Marion, Volusia, Seminole and Orange counties.
“The need is huge,” Ilkka said. “We know that this is the second most underserved population-base in the United States.”
Aging seniors are part of the booming population least likely to receive dental care, along with children from birth to age 3.
By taking his dental equipment on the road to scheduled visits at participating assisted living and memory care facilities, Ilkka said it allows the seniors to receive basic preventive cleaning, flossing, fluoride treatments and an oral screening that may signal other health disorders, including cancer, heart and liver disease, diabetes and other disorders.
“Our thrust is to try to control periodontal problems as best as we can,” Ilkka said. “Dental care is as important when you’re 80 and 70 as when you are 6 or 8. Part of overall health is oral health.”
Aging seniors are much more susceptible to health issues if they avoid dental care, and those with severe periodontal disease face double the risk of fatal heart disease and higher rates of stroke, Ilkka said. Even tooth infections have the potential to cause bacterial endocarditis, an infection of the heart’s inner lining or the heart valves.
Pneumonia can be caused by the inhalation of plaque or calculus that has separated from teeth.
“Our thrust is to eliminate as much of that aspirant as possible,” Ilkka said.
He was inspired to start the mobile practice after seeing the dental woes of his father-in-law. The older relative had dementia and had stopped eating as a result of two broken teeth.
“The first traumatic experience was taking him out of memory care and getting him to the dentist office, and that was an awakening of the struggle of somebody who has dementia or Alzheimer’s of not knowing where they are,” said Edward Hargroves, chief operating officer for Thrive Dentistry OnSite.
Hargroves is pleased the practice allows Alzheimer’s patients to receive dental care without having to leave the facility.
“It’s very rewarding to help the community with a need that is not being served,” he said.
Dental hygienist Tracy Taylor agrees.
“We know a lot patients in assisted living facilities have difficulties going to either their doctor or going to the dentist, so this allows Dr. Ilkka to come in and bring the treatment to them,” Taylor said. “We have to think outside the box and that is what this program does. We have to think of different ways to bring the dentistry to the community.”
Ilkka also has a private dental practice in Leesburg and serves as the founder of St. Luke Free Dental Clinic in Eustis, where he treats patients with a team of other dentists.
“As long as I can physically do it, I’m going to keep doing what I love to do,” he said.
Source: http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_c11d2b6c-d44b-5b6d-9c19-1ef8a0ec72b7.html
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