Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

DENTAL TRIBUNE | July 2011 News 5A Desert Friends of the Develop- mentally Disabled opened a dental clinic in mid-July to provide free dental services to developmentally disabled children and adults. “We already have a waiting list of nearly 100 people from through- out Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are in desperate need of dental care,” said Marianne Benson, co-founder of the Rancho Mirage-based non-profit group. The clinic is located behind the Rancho Las Palmas Shopping Cen- ter in an office building at 42-900 Bob Hope Drive, Suite 111. Des- ert Friends of the Developmentally Disabled signed a three-year lease on the 1,200-square-foot office, which was renovated right in prep- aration for its mid-July opening. “We’ll start off with two den- tal chairs, but we will eventually expand to four,” Benson said. California has 240,000 disabled children and adults, 24,000 of whom reside in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. About 1,500 of them live in the Coachella Val- ley. “Adults over 21 have lost most of their medical and dental health- care benefits as a result of state budget cuts during the past three years,” Benson said. “We’re trying to help them by providing dental care, though we hope to eventually provide other healthcare services as we recruit more volunteers.” While disabled children still have their medical and dental benefits, it is very difficult to find dentists willing to work on them, Benson said, adding that Desert Friends of the Developmentally Disabled has initially focused on providing free dental services, since state statistics indicate that 88 percent of disabled children and adults have unmet dental needs. State lawmakers have eliminat- ed numerous medical and dental services for developmentally dis- abled adults, including all dental services, speech therapy services, podiatric services, audiology ser- vices, chiropractic services, acu- puncture services, optometric and optician services, psychological services as well as incontinence creams and washes. Lawmakers have also proposed cutting additional services for developmentally disabled adults this year in an effort to reduce the state budget deficit. “All of this is happening,” Ben- son said, “because this is a popula- tion that cannot speak up for them- selves. So their services are among the first to be cut.” DT (Source: Desert Friends of the Developmentally Disabled) AD New clinic serves needs of developmentally disabled patients A new clinic in California will serve needs of developmentally disabled patients. (Photos/Desert Friends of the Devel- opmentally Disabled)