oral care

Wait times for Northwestern Ontario children needing oral surgery are set to drop with the opening of the region’s first pediatric dental anaesthesia suite.

Sovereign Dental in Thunder Bay will be accepting patients from across the northwest, including remote northern communities.

Before this general anaesthesia suite opened, children needing that level of sedation had to book appointments at the hospital. Wait times for treatment could last over two years.

“It’s really hard to watch children who potentially have to wait for years when they have pain or an infection in their teeth,” said Sovereign Dental pediatric dentist Jennifer Branch. “It affects how they sleep, how they eat, how they grow, everything. It’s really important that we can help the community treat children faster and more efficiently.”

The GA suite saw its first five patients on Monday. Staff say the goal is to treat about 30 patients in the first month, with numbers increasing over time.

“There was a true necessity for our children in Thunder Bay and our surrounding communities,” said Office Manager Rita Lengwenus. “In our remote and rural areas, those children don’t really have access to dental care. They’re in urgent need, and they have to look elsewhere. Thunder Bay is the closest community that can treat them.”

Travel and accommodations for those needing oral care outside of Thunder Bay can be arranged by booking an appointment with Sovereign Dental. Visit Ontario’s Northern Health Travel Grant Program webpage to see if you or a family member qualifies for a provincial travel grant.

“We coordinate with government agencies to make sure that the travel and the stay is all put in place,” said Akash Balaji, operations manager for Sovereign Dental. “That’s how we make sure everything is set up beforehand.”

Balaji says the anaesthesia workstation, imported from Germany, is one of a kind in North America.

“[Sovereign Dental CEO] Dr. Derval Clarke wanted the best. He said if you’re going to be dealing with children, he wants to make sure that everything is perfect and we give them the best quality in every way possible,” Balaji said.

Dr. Derval Clarke is credited with leading the vision and plan for the anaesthesia suite.

“The whole achievement of our general anaestheia suite definitely would not have been possible without the investment and leadership of our CEO Dr. Derval Clarke. He was the pushing force for this. We also wouldn’t have been able to do this without the care, time and expertise of all the people who were involved in helping us get started. It took a lot of teamwork to bring it all together,” Rita Lengwenus said.

Akash Balaji also highlighted a pilot program from Sovereign Dental that teaches new moms how to care for their babies’ oral health. The seminar is free to attend.

“We’re giving a presentation on how to take care of babies’ oral health from home – simple steps that you don’t really have to worry too much about. The oral care should start before they’re even one year old, and a lot of people don’t know that,” Balaji said.