WNY seniors to receive free dental screenings and education

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine will provide Western New York seniors with free oral health screenings and an educational workshop through Oral Health America’s Wisdom Tooth Project.

The program will provide dental care and education to seniors, a vulnerable population among whom an estimated 70 percent lack or have limited dental insurance and an equal percentage have periodontal disease, according to Oral Health America and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The event, Tooth Wisdom: Get Smart About Your Mouth, is a series of health education workshops for older adults and caregivers delivered in community settings around the nation by Oral Health America. The Buffalo workshop is held in partnership between Oral Health America, UB and local dental products manufacturer Ivoclar Vivadent.

The workshop and screenings are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Schiller Park Senior Center, 2057 Genesee St., Buffalo.

Patients will be screened using portable dental equipment and will receive personal hygiene products. Participants in need of follow-up care will receive assistance with locating affordable, long-term dental care.

Since its inception in 2014, the Wisdom Tooth Project has organized nearly 300 workshops and reached more than 5,700 seniors across the United States.

Each year, the School of Dental Medicine provides nearly 60,000 Western New York dental patient care visits in its Squire Hall dental clinic and in its mobile dental unit located in the Southern Tier.

Oral Health America is a nonprofit that aims to change lives by connecting communities with resources that increase access to care, education and advocacy, particularly for those most vulnerable.

Ivoclar Vivadent, based in Amherst, is a global leader in innovative materials and processes for quality, esthetic dentistry.