Fanshawe opens new oral health clinic

The Fanshawe London learning lab for students will double as a community oral health clinic providing a range of affordable dental services

FANSHAWE COLLEGE HAS opened its new state-of-the-art oral health clinic, designed as both a learning lab for students in the college’s dental hygiene program and as a provider of low-cost community dental services.

The opening of the new clinic will provide dental hygiene and dental assisting students with 20 fully functional simulator manikins, a full “simulation clinic,” and 16 functioning dental operatories, all of which will be used as part of students’ curriculum.

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The space, however, is not just meant for students: a key component for the school is being able to offer affordable dental services through the clinic, where a basic checkup will run you only $40, and where x-rays (so often responsible for bloated dental bills) cost only $2.50 a piece. Some of these services were previously provided through a partnership with Western’s Dental Clinic, but the opening of the new clinic will allow Fanshawe to expand the services it is able to offer on its own campus.

“With over 70,000 Londoners living in poverty and a lack of access to employer-paid dental insurance as one of the major predictors for oral healthcare utilization, the clinic plays a vital role in providing accessible preventative oral health services to the region,” the college says in a press release. “Under the supervision of registered dental hygienists and dentists, students provide quality, preventative oral health services to many people within our community who may not otherwise have access to care.”

“This is a very exciting day for us, as this clinic allows us to actualize a long-held dream to provide oral health care to the community while providing research opportunities for our students and faculty,” says Pam McLaughlin, dean of the Faculty of Health, Community Studies and Public Safety at Fanshawe. “After learning in this lab, our graduates will be prepared to join health care teams in London and beyond.” Kieran Delamont