News Releases

Free Dental Care for Children with Special Needs at UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic

For Release Upon Receipt - May 13, 2022

St. Augustine


UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic partners with NGO Community Chest Limited 

From left to right: Dr. William Smith - Director of The UWI St. Augustine Campus School of Dentistry, Professor Bidyadhar Sa - Deputy Dean of The Faculty of Medical Sciences of The UWI St. Augustine Campus, Dr. Ramaa L. Balkaran - Lecturer in Special Needs Dentistry and Coordinator of The UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic, School of Dentistry, Mr. Louis Ramdhanie - Director, Community Chest and Ms. Ceila Orosco - Director, Community Chest

ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad &Tobago. May 13, 2022 - Children with special needs in Trinidad and Tobago can now be treated for free at The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Special Needs Dental Clinic. The treatment centre which is based at The School of Dentistry in the Faculty of Medical Sciences of The UWI St. Augustine Campus recently received a generous donation of $90,000 from Community Chest Limited (CCL), a non-governmental organisation.

The Board of the CCL recognised that there was an unmet need for dental care for children with special needs, it was then they discovered that there was an existing specialised dental clinic that was able to provide treatment. This is important since poor oral health is linked to other general health issues and persons with special needs often have both oral and systemic diseases. Dental treatment is associated with high costs and although The UWI Dental School offers highly subsidized fees, this service may still not be affordable to those who access government grants.

Dr. Ramaa Balkaran, Lecturer in Special Needs Dentistry at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, is enthusiastic about this initiative from the CCL that enables children with special needs to access specialised dental care. “This purposeful collaboration,” she said, “would improve the quality of life of this population through dental care.” Special needs dentistry modifies treatment by promoting preventative dentistry and changes in routine dental care adapted to the specific, patient’s needs. Dr. Balkaran wishes that “this partnership would be sustainable and can also be extended to the adult population through future partnerships with the CCL and other NGOs.”

Director of the School of Dentistry in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The UWI St. Augustine, Dr. William Smith, hopes that The UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic can create additional partnerships with various NGOs to promote oral health in the special needs population, providing treatment through private/public UWI partnership. “Such collaborative initiatives would increase access to a conscious sedation service at UWI/NCRHA clinic, provide general anaesthesia in a timely manner, and have restorative and urgent treatment completed at no, or reduced, costs through private/corporate UWI partnership. Another goal is the provision of a dental mobile unit accessible to patients with special needs that have mobility issues or who live in rural communities,” said Dr. Smith.

Parents of children (i.e. persons under the age of 18 years old) with special needs, can book the appointments at the dental clinic. The clinical days are currently on Tuesday and Thursday mornings as well as all day on Fridays. For further information, interested persons are asked to contact The UWI Dental School, Special Needs Dental Clinic, T: 645-3232 ext. 4038; 645-7816; 645-4352.

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Here are some photos of NGO Community Chest’s cheque presentation of a donation of $90,000 to The UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic

From left to right:

Dr. William Smith - Director of The UWI St. Augustine Campus School of Dentistry, Dr. Ramaa L. Balkaran - Lecturer in Special Needs Dentistry and Coordinator of The UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic, School of Dentistry express their gratitude to Mr. Louis Ramdhanie - Director, Community Chest and Ms. Ceila Orosco - Director, Community Chest

 

From left to right:

Dr. Ramaa L. Balkaran - Lecturer in Special Needs Dentistry and Coordinator of The UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic, School of Dentistry, Ms. Ceila Orosco - Director, Community Chest Mr. Louis Ramdhanie - Director, Community Chest Dr. William Smith - Director of The UWI St. Augustine Campus School of Dentistry, Ms. Marsha Ivey- Lecturer & Associate Dean of The Faculty of Medical Sciences– Public Relations, Ms. Francisca Phillip - Dental Surgery Assistant, School of Dentistry and Professor Bidyadhar Sa - Deputy Dean of The Faculty of Medical Sciences of The UWI St. Augustine Campus

 

 

From left to right:

Dr. William Smith - Director of The UWI St. Augustine Campus School of Dentistry, Dr. Ramaa L. Balkaran - Lecturer in Special Needs Dentistry and Coordinator of The UWI Special Needs Dental Clinic accepts a donation of $90,000 from Mr. Louis Ramdhanie - Director, Community Chest

About The UWI 

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. 

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. 

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world. 

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%. 

The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. 

For more, visit www.uwi.edu. 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

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