‘I do not have a vehicle. I am a lousy senior. I offered a portray so I had cash,’ mentioned community senior, who tried out to accessibility subsidized dental treatment for an abscessed tooth, but observed no neighborhood choices
A nearby senior is disappointed with a deficiency of regional alternatives for these seeking care underneath the Ontario Seniors Dental Treatment Application (OSDCP).
Cathy Hammond was left in “excruciating pain” from an abscessed tooth in late August when she experimented with to accessibility care via OSDCP, but she realized there are no neighborhood solutions for the system in Orillia.
“My confront was so swollen up. I have hardly ever experienced something like that in advance of,” Hammond, 69, advised OrilliaMatters.
Regionally, OSDCP is administered by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Device, offering lower-money seniors who qualify with an array of free or backed dental providers. There are clinics in Gravenhurst and Barrie, but none in Orillia.
When she called to try out to set up an appointment, Hammond questioned why there ended up no dentists out there in Orillia to take care of her.
“She reported there’s no dentists in Orillia, and I claimed, ‘Well, why aren’t you getting extra?’ I questioned the tough queries,” she stated. “There was no real good response to it, and I was type of appalled. I consider, as a taxpayer, I are entitled to so considerably greater.”
As she has no car or truck, Hammond wound up paying around $400 out-of-pocket to a local dentist for therapy.
“I don’t have a auto. I am a weak senior,” she said. “I offered a portray so I experienced funds, and I experienced to spend (a nearby dentist).”
Hammond famous she has lived in many areas throughout Canada, and she explained she finds health care in Ontario to be subpar.
“In northern Manitoba dentists used to just fly in, but that was several years back,” she explained. “I just locate Ontario very appalling.”
Going forward, Hammond would like to see neighborhood options for seniors to access OSDCP.
“It’s regrettable that you will find just not one particular dentist in Orillia,” she claimed. “You can see all sorts of unhappy tales about seniors that won’t be able to even obtain a first rate spot to reside, or get overall health care or anything at all, and we should really be humiliated. This is the Sunshine Metropolis.”
Simone Guenette, supervisor of the overall health unit’s oral overall health software, stated OSDCP is administered solely by the wellness unit’s two clinics in Gravenhurst and Barrie.
“SMDHU is not planning to create a dental clinic in Orillia at this time,” Guenette mentioned.
On the other hand, Guenette mentioned the health device will assist seniors arrange transportation, if needed.
“SMDHU guides and helps customers by navigation, including aiding in acquiring transportation, this kind of as coordination with companies these types of as Aiding Fingers,” she reported.
Owing to provincial principles, non-public dental places of work are unable to administer the application, Guenette additional.
“As for every the Ministry of Wellness advice … non-public dental places of work are not able to be included in the supply of the products and services, as this delivery of this software lies solely with Public Overall health Unit clinics,” she claimed.
Far more may possibly be study about OSDCP below.
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