Dr. Robert Hirsch and Dr. Silvia Ferretti greet Erie news crews at the new Dental Offices on West Grandview Blvd.
Everyone wants a beautiful smile but not everyone can afford the dental care that keeps that smile beautiful. LECOM administrators took Erie news crews on a tour of the LECOM Dental Offices where affordable dental care will be available for qualified patients. The Dental Offices are now ready to accept patients at 2000 West Grandview, Blvd. in Erie.
During April and May, LECOM faculty dentists will be screening patients who are interested in having dental care provided by the dental students who will be completing their clinical training in Erie. These 50 students will arrive in Erie in late May and begin seeing patients in June. These students already have completed three-years of didactic and clinical training at the LECOM School of Dental Medicine in Bradenton, Fla.
Under the direct supervision of licensed dentists, the students will provide total comprehensive care to qualified patients. Each patient will be given a treatment plan that will cover the dental procedures required by the individual patient.
“Our goal at this state of the art dental practice is to provide high-quality, ethical, and affordable patient-centered care to serve the needs of a diverse population,” according to LECOM Provost Silvia M. Ferretti, DO. “The students will use the latest diagnostic and patient record keeping tools as they learn how to work in a typical dental practice.”
Those diagnostic tools include full mouth digital X-rays and state-of-the-art electronic medical record software. The offices house three group practices, named for benefactors who have contributed to the LECOM Student Scholarship Fund. Each is equipped and works like a modern dental office. There are ten treatment rooms in each group. Each student will treat at least three patients per day where they will provide restorative dental care services. This includes: cleanings, periodontal treatments, crowns, root canal therapy, extractions, dental restorations and full and partial dental prostheses.
The dental office will have a bearing on the oral health of local residents. LECOM is the only dental school in the country where students practice at College owned and operated community-based dental offices and spend their entire fourth year to treating individuals who may otherwise go without care.
“Our goal is to provide our students with adequate learning opportunities so that upon graduation they will be prepared to practice successfully in areas where the need for oral health care is greatest,” said Dr. Ferretti.
The office will employ more than 40 dentists, hygienists, and support staff.In addition, the LECOM Clinical Practices will have a primary care physician office in the same building as the dental offices.
The Dental Offices are open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
To learn more about the LECOM Dental Offices or to schedule an appointment, please call (814) 868-1001.