The North Preston community and the AV俱乐部 Faculty of Dentistry came together on June 16 to celebrate 20 years of a partnership that has enabled local children to receive dental care in a community that was previously underserved.
The North Preston Dental Clinic is located in Nelson Whynder Elementary School. It is a joint effort by the North Preston community, the AV俱乐部 Faculty of Dentistry, and the Halifax Regional School Board (formerly the Halifax County-Bedford School Board).
鈥淭he clinic was a wonderful coming together of need and opportunity,鈥� says Tony Atuanya, chair of the North Preston Community Education Council and emcee for the evening. 鈥淥ur community recognized there was a need for dental care for our children. The Faculty of Dentistry was looking for an opportunity to work with communities that needed access to dental care and the school board was willing to use Nelson Whynder Elementary School as the location for the clinic. It has been a vital part of the community for the past 20 years.鈥�
Rosella Fraser, the facilities manager of the North Preston Community Centre, is delighted that her daughter, Adina Marsman, was able to receive dental care at the clinic when she was a student at Nelson Whynder.
鈥淪peaking as a parent, we were blessed to have this service,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have a dentist and I really appreciated not only the treatment and oral education Adina received, but also the attention paid to building relationships and rapport through having the dental office in the school.鈥�
Marking a milestone
The anniversary was celebrated with a dinner, speeches, music by local performer Keonte Beals, and many messages of congratulation and thanks to everyone who played a part in making the clinic happen. Preston MLA David Hendsbee presented a framed certificate congratulating the community on its achievement (right, with Dean Boran and coordinator Juliette Thomas).
Dr. Amid Ismail, dean of dentistry at Temple University in Philadelphia, was one of the original team to make the North Preston Dental Clinic a reality. Now a recognised expert on dental health disparities and a passionate advocate for the underserved, he spoke briefly about the history of the clinic, thanking everyone for the experience they gave him. For him, it was the 鈥淯niversity of North Preston鈥�, where 鈥淚 discovered myself and it was the foundation for my engagement with the community鈥�.
He recalled some initial suspicion when he first went to the community to talk about the clinic.
鈥淚 was a university professor in a suit," said Dr. Ismail (left). It was expected that I would do a study and disappear. But trust cannot be achieved in one day or one month. We planted seeds and waited for them to bloom.鈥� Persistence paid off, he said. Relationships were built and 鈥渨e now have a community clinic that is a model for all of us. Thank you for the experience you gave me.鈥�
In his remarks, AV俱乐部 President Richard Florizone discussed Dal鈥檚 three-fold mission of teaching and learning, research, and service. 鈥淭hat third pillar 鈥� service 鈥� is our connection to the community, and it informs teaching and research. This clinic is an excellent example of an idea that has grown and developed into an enduring partnership and friendship between North Preston and AV俱乐部.鈥�
Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, Dr. Tom Boran, praised the hard work of dental assistant and clinic co-ordinator Juliette Thomas, who has been with the clinic since 1996 and a steady presence for both fourth-year dentistry students and faculty.
鈥淎s Ismail said, seeds were planted here and flowers bloomed,鈥� Dr. Boran said. 鈥淲hen our students graduate, I鈥檓 not interested in just hearing where they are going to practise, but what population they are going to serve. And I am hearing that 鈥� it鈥檚 part of the legacy of North Preston.鈥�
Making history
Another part of the legacy is the young people from the community who have gone on to become dentists. Jean Provo graduated from AV俱乐部 as a dentist in 2001, becoming the first from the community to do so. Celeste Williams (right), who is from East Preston, is now going into her third year of Dentistry studies, and a young man from the community is doing his undergraduate degree with the objective of studying dentistry at Dal.
鈥淲e made history 20 years ago,鈥� said Tony Atuanya. 鈥淎 lot of things happened in the community as the result of our partnership with AV俱乐部 and our exploration of what you can do with a publicly-funded building.鈥�
At the end of the evening, Juliette Thomas made an announcement that Tony was too shy to make: his daughter Rosine, who is currently a student at York University, has been accepted into the Dentistry program at Dal and will take up her place in September.