Northwest Community Hospital will team up with Little City Foundation for a residential dental assessment on Friday, March 26, and Monday, March 29, at Little Citys 56-acre campus at 1760 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine. The assessment, which will benefit more than 200 individuals, will identify the dental needs of the Little City community. The results will help Little City in its development of a permanent dental site later this spring.
    There are not many opportunities to meet the dental needs of people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, and they are drastically underserved, said Nancy Colovos, programs manager of NCHs Oral Health Program. This can be due to low reimbursement, fear of going to the dentist, and the location of clinics the closest one being in Rockford.
    Northwest Communitys dental team, led by clinical director Dr. Ahmed El-Maghraby, has recruited oral healthcare professionals from the community to perform dental evaluations. These volunteers include licensed dentists, hygienists, students from the hygiene program at Harper College, and fourth-year dental students from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. Drs. Michael Schroeder, Angela Willox and Theresa Albers, all past or present members of the NCH Dental Advisory Board, will volunteer their expertise.
    In addition to the dental assessment, some of the volunteers will provide caregiver training to Little City employees, and launch a desensitization program to help patients with their fear of the dentist.
    Were grateful to the experts at Northwest Community and to our communitys future dental professionals for volunteering their time and talent to the people of Little City, said Executive Director Shawn E. Jeffers. This milestone takes us one step closer to the opening of our dedicated Health & Wellness Center, which will provide specialized medical and dental care to our residents and participants here on campus.
    Northwest Community Hospital and Little City recently furthered their relationship through Little Citys acquisition of an NCH advanced practice nurse at its medical clinic, and are looking toward future opportunities.