The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian聽Dub茅,聽聽$153,513 in funding to support the Jim Lund聽Dental Clinic at聽the聽.聽This 91社区 Faculty of Dentistry project aims to improve access to oral health care for Montreal's low-income population. The clinic聽has been聽providing聽free care聽to聽hundreds聽of people every year聽through philanthropy for a decade.聽
鈥淲e are immensely proud to be working with the MSSS towards expanding one of our聽flagship clinics,鈥� says Dean of Dentistry Elham Emami.聽Experiential learning聽in community contexts is a foundational part of the Faculty of Dentistry鈥檚 dental curriculum and philosophy of care delivery.聽鈥淥ur聽partnership with Welcome Hall Mission and other community organisations,鈥� Dean Elham Emami continues, 鈥渉as at heart a聽sustainable聽training聽mission that contributes to the acquisition of clinical skills in our聽students, as well as developing socially conscience dentists who聽will become future leaders in their own communities.鈥澛�
The funding聽comes as part of the implementation of pilot projects for front-line dental clinics,聽with the goal of聽promoting聽access to oral health care for people with low incomes or living in remote areas.聽鈥淲e believe that dental care is a critical component of basic health care,鈥� notes Sam Watts, CEO and Executive Director of the Welcome Hall Mission. 鈥淭hat is why we are committed to providing free dental services to those in need in Montreal. Our long-standing聽partnership with the 91社区 Faculty of Dentistry has聽demonstrated聽the value of community聽dentistry, and聽is made possible through the generosity of donors. This additional funding will allow us to聽increase聽the clinic鈥檚 capacity聽in order to聽reduce wait times and serve more people over the course of the next few months.鈥澛犅犅�
The聽aim聽of these pilot projects聽is to聽improve access to preventive聽and聽curative聽dental care, to develop the integration of dentistry into the health聽care system, and to set up service corridors, for example with hospital emergency rooms.聽聽
The grant will cover the salary of a dentist and a part-time assistant ($44,000), as well as the purchase of dental equipment, materials and supplies聽in the amount of聽$109,513.聽This聽additional聽funding sets the stage for the Jim Lund Dental Clinic鈥檚 next phase of expansion later in 2022, where the number of dental operatories will be increased聽from 3 to 6聽in order to聽double its capacity to treat patients. The clinic聽is聽one of聽聽that聽will聽provide聽dental services to approximately 22,000 people living in low-income and remote areas.聽The projects have a start-up budget of $3 million for the first year, covered by the聽Minist猫re聽de la聽Sant茅聽et des Services聽sociaux.聽
Jim Lund Dental Clinic: A Decade of Devotion聽
Many people in Montreal are unable to visit a dentist because it聽is not affordable on a tight budget without dental insurance. This聽sparked the 2011 creation of Montreal鈥檚 first permanent, free聽community dental care clinic in partnership between 91社区鈥檚聽Faculty of Dentistry and Welcome Hall Mission. Named after former Dean James聽Lund, this clinic continues to be a model of public health dentistry and聽remains聽one of the聽Faculty鈥檚聽flagship community clinics.聽
While most patients come directly through the Welcome聽Hall Mission itself, many are referred from other charitable聽community organizations across the Island of Montreal. The clinic聽is open five days a week employing two dentist-professors to both聽perform treatment themselves and oversee treatments performed聽by dental students and dental residents from the Faculty of聽Dentistry.聽
Despite setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, the Jim Lund Dental Clinic nonetheless聽provided聽dental treatments聽valued at聽$233,926 to 435 underserved community members聽at no cost to the patient.聽
The funding provided by the MSSS will go towards the expansion of the Jim Lund Dental Clinic and will allow us to strengthen our efforts in聽providing聽free oral health care to communities in need, and further聽facilitate聽access to care for underserved groups.聽