UB’s Dian Chin Kit-Wells puts heart and passion into treatment of patients with disabilities

When the megahit “Let It Go” was released in 2013 as part of the animated movie “Frozen,” Meelin Dian Chin Kit-Wells, knew she had found the perfect song to sing to patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who are feeling anxious.

“Nothing banishes anxiety like ‘Let It Go,’” says Chin Kit-Wells, clinical associate professor in the Department of Pediatric and Community Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, who also treats adults and children with IDD at a Buffalo clinic on Saturdays. “I love to sing to my patients. Everything from the ABCs to Disney tunes.”

Chin Kit-Wells, known to many as “Dr. Dian,” exudes an infectious warmth and speaks with a lilting accent that reflects her Trinidad and Tobago childhood, one she describes as filled with stories and songs.

However, singing is just one of many tools Chin Kit-Wells uses for calming and reassuring patients who are on the autism spectrum or who have other sensory and auditory processing disorders that make a visit to the dentist frightening. She has draped patients with lead aprons as a type of weighted blanket, offered noise cancellation headphones during drilling procedures, and even accompanied reluctant patients from the parking lot to the dental office.

To Chin Kit-Wells, treating patients with IDD is second nature, a heartfelt skill she has honed over more than two decades.

“I am always stunned when people ask me where I get my passion to care for those with disabilities,” she says. “What I feel is a passion to care for people. And I don’t see the difference if my patient happens to be a person using a wheelchair or a person on the autism spectrum. When you focus on providing care that is person-centered, you’re focusing on that patient as much as the treatment.”

Chin Kit-Wells is currently spreading her passion nationwide as the president of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD), a nonprofit organization with more than 1,000 members. Elected in June 2024, she will serve in this role through June 2026.

AADMD  supports professionals who provide clinical care to people with disabilities through online classes, resources and conferences. Along with dentists, its membership includes physicians, nurses, optometrists and occupational and behavioral therapists.

The group also supports student chapters in medical and dental schools, including UB. The students have the chance to participate in interdisciplinary webinars with clinicians, submit scientific articles and attend the annual AADMD conference.

Chin Kit-Wells’ training goes back decades. When she was a pediatric dentistry resident, she volunteered with the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes and Special Smiles program, which screens athletes for dental issues prior to the games. It was there she met Steve Perlman,  co-founder of both Special Smiles and the AADMD, who invited her to an AADMD conference.

“It was probably the only conference I’ve ever attended where I didn’t want to go home,” she says with a laugh. “I was surrounded by like-minded people who dedicate their time to caring for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

She joined the organization in 2014 and was elected secretary prior to becoming president-elect in 2022.

Through the years, Chin Kit-Wells has come to realize that treating patients with IDD is anything but a one-size-fits-all approach.

“I tell my students that there is no template,” she says. “Getting to know each individual patient, being gracious and allowing them to get to know you are the most important things you can do.”

She suggests conducting a pre-appointment questionnaire with patients and/or their caregiver. If that isn’t possible, she says, dentists should sit down with patients when they arrive to learn their needs and aversions.

“You may need to adjust your office or your station so that it’s sensory adapted,” she says. “If the bright lights are a concern, give the patient sunglasses or dim the lights. Another patient may not want to sit in the dental chair. Let them sit on their coat or even have a beanbag chair available. You have to be creative and improvise.”

Working with people with disabilities isn’t hard, Chin Kit-Wells says, “if you approach it with an open mind and heart.”

She has transferred that philosophy to her students and her own children. Chin Kit-Wells was pregnant with her youngest son, Jamal, while she was in dental school at UB. He’s now a practicing dentist in Buffalo, focusing on patients with disabilities.

“When we go to conferences for individuals with IDD, sometimes Jamal and I are the only dental professionals there,” she says. “We need all dentists to become motivated to treat this population. Oral health is among the most unmet needs for people with disabilities.”

First comes awareness, which Chin Kit-Wells notes is one of the top barriers to care.

“I want to help dental professionals understand that treating patients with disabilities is not difficult,” she says. “It can be supported, and it can make your practice so much more rewarding.”

Along with amplifying this message as president of AADMD, Chin Kit-Wells wants to focus on access. Many adults and children with disabilities have trouble finding a dental provider who will treat them, which concerns her.

“What I’ve learned from AADMD is that dentists and physicians sometimes feel they are not equipped to treat people with disabilities,” she says. “They don’t want to hurt anybody and are concerned they haven’t had enough training. One thing AADMD offers is training.”

Other obstacles include time and money.

“Health care providers may feel that they don’t have the time to spend with a person with an intellectual or developmental disability, especially if they have an office full of emergency patients. And they may feel they aren’t financially compensated for the care they’re providing.”

This is another place where the AADMD can be of assistance.

“We call upon policymakers and leaders in health care to close the gap in health care disparities for people with IDD,” she explains. 

Chin Kit-Wells say she aims to instill in her students the confidence and passion needed to care for patients with IDD.

Individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability are invited to speak at lectures for first-year dental students, which helps to introduce students to the population, she explains.

In addition,  first-year students participate in an outreach program with Buffalo Public School 84 Health Care Center for Children at ECMC, which serves children with disabilities.

“We recently provided dental education in the classroom and engaged with the children by judging decorated doors for a contest with a dinosaur theme,” she says. “Really, the learning was reciprocal.”

Students in their second year take a communication class with Chin Kit-Wells and Elisabeth Thompson, an occupational therapist and clinical instructor of health sciences, where they learn about interdisciplinary communication and the positive effects of collaborative care.

Outside of class, the student chapter of the AADMD hosts an annual inclusive fashion and talent show, with proceeds benefiting GiGi’s Playhouse Down Syndrome Achievement Center of Buffalo.

With student chapters throughout the country, Chin Kit-Wells says she’d like to work to ensure a higher percentage of future dentists become involved with the IDD population through treatment, advocacy and community work.

“We know that dental professionals are going to approach people with disabilities differently and more compassionately when they’ve had exposure to the population early on,” she says. “I know that passion can be ignited. And I love seeing when it happens.”