University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine is hitting the road this summer. Thanks to a $780,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to expand its S-Miles to Go dental program, the School will be rolling out a 40-foot-long, two-chair clinic mobile dental van, outfitted with a state-of-the-art panoramic X-ray unit, digital radiography, a sterilization center, wheelchair lift, and electronic health record system. The dental van will pay visits to at-risk children and families in underserved communities, as well the the infirm.
“We at the School of Dental Medicine are very grateful for the support we’ve received from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation for a new mobile dental unit,” says Joseph J. Zambon, DDS, PhD, dean and SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of the UB School of Dental Medicine.
This dental van is the second, drivable mobile dental clinic at the School, which has witnessed incredible successes with the mobile program.
“This will allow the school to expand its outreach to underserved populations throughout Western New York, which in calendar year 2019 totaled over 13,000 procedures performed on over 1,800 patients at 31 different sites.”
The new van will allow the School to accommodate an additional 1000+ families each year, which is a significant increase and a great help to vulnerable households and communities, including older adults and people with disabilities.
The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the United States and the largest focused exclusively on New York.
The van will provide UB dental faculty, staff, and students, with a mobile classroom designed to provide hands-on educational training opportunities.
This is the second significant grant that has been awarded to UB by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.
“These grants demonstrate our continued commitment to support a wide range of organizations improving the health and well-being of New York’s most vulnerable,” says Alfred F. Kelly, Jr., chief executive officer of Visa Inc. and chair of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation board.
In the end, this is a big win for WNY, and will go a long way towards keeping people healthier, happier, and smiling more often.
To learn more about The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, visit the foundation’s website.
Lead image: The new 40-foot-long mobile dental clinic will be outfitted with two dental chairs, a panoramic X-ray unit, digital radiography and more. The van’s staff and students will provide exams, cleanings, fillings, sealants, fluoride treatments, and extractions as part of its S-Miles to Go program.