By Glenn Hicks

Full service dental clinic proposed for university campus in P.A.

Mar 14, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The planned dentistry program for the new University of Saskatchewan campus in downtown Prince Albert will bring access to treatment to those who struggle to afford it.

It has been proposed the campus will feature a seven-chair full service learning clinic, where senior dental students will work directly with the public.

“Our students and the university are extremely excited about the opportunity to be part of the solution to access to dental care for Canadians who currently don’t have that access,” Dr. Doug Brothwell the dean of the College of Dentistry, told paNOW. “We’re all excited to get this going.”

Brothwell said while nothing has been confirmed yet the dental clinic planned for P.A. would satisfy the need to train more dentists for the region and the North, and to provide reduced-rate and sometimes free dental treatment. He added the training clinic would be open even when there aren’t students in the program such as during holidays or other breaks.

“We hope that a good proportion of our priority population will chose this as their dental clinic of choice,” he said.

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Brothwell explained students study for three years to get into dental school. Once they start, they’re introduced to skills and techniques with simulators and mannequins. Patient care then becomes the major part of third and fourth year programming.

“The students going out to the Prince Albert campus would only be our fourth year students who are set for graduation,” Brothwell said. “We need to train dentists and we need to train them in the locations where we hope they’ll practice afterwards. Availability of dental services in the North could be improved.”

The direct benefit for the region’s residents is clear with service being offered for a much reduced rate.

“We run clinics where our fees are reduced right off the bat for any patient who walks in who has to pay out of pocket, and goes all the way [down] to no cost care,” he said.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow