For Joann Mostovoy, taking her autistic son, Victor, to the dentist was always a struggle. For Victor, who is 28 and nonverbal, going to the dentist was terrifying and painful. But at NYU’s Dentistry Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities, things felt different. 

Victor’s dentists at the center took their time to make him comfortable, insisting they could avoid sedating him by using behavioral techniques to get through sessions. Clinicians treated him with respect and made it possible for him to get his teeth cleaned without general anesthesia – something that was otherwise unheard of for Victor. 

“For a long time, the assumption with my son, and all people with special needs, is that they have to be sedated, they have to be on some kind of medication and they have to be restrained,” Mostovoy said. “At the center, it was the first time someone saw my son as a human being who deserved basic human dignity. They understood him — and once that happened, everything changed.” 

Mostovoy shared her story with a packed room, as patients and professionals gathered Monday night to celebrate a $5.48 million grant in state funding to expand the center to cover oral health care for kids with disabilities. Currently located on the eighth floor of the NYU College of Dentistry, the center will use the funds to expand to the ninth floor to accommodate pediatric and adolescent services. 

Charles Bertolami, dean of the dentistry school, told WSN the center is unique in both approach and infrastructure. Its walls are equipped with lights that can be set to different colors to prevent seizures for at-risk patients, and rooms have wheelchair tippers that mitigate anxiety and possible hazards from removing patients from wheelchairs. Patients are also offered comfort animals and family members can participate in patient care.

“The problem with dentistry and disability is that dentistry traditionally wants somebody with a disability to fit their rulebook, and that can’t happen.” Rita Bilello, clinical director of the accessible center, said. “We allow the rulebook to get modified. No person is treated like any other person, because it’s all based upon your individual needs,” 

This grant is part of a larger initiative to invest $25 million in creating more accessible health clinics across the state, led by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities.  The program includes 30 awards total, of which NYU was the largest single recipient, aiming to address the difficulties people with disabilities face in accessing equitable healthcare. Other recipients include Metro Community Health Centers and Staten Island University Hospital. 

“These investments will focus on what people with lived experience told us was the most important: expanding specialized services — especially dental care — making physical spaces accessible for wheelchair users, creating sensory-friendly clinical environments and bringing critical health care services to communities that have been historically underserved,” OPWDD commissioner Willow Baer said. 

NYU Dentistry is the largest dental school in the country with over 1,900 students in its pre and postdoctoral programs. A small group of senior dental students visits the center during rounds, learning how to treat disabled patients. 

Bertolami also emphasized the center’s work as an amplifier for expanding equitable healthcare for disabled patients. As many dental students go on to have their own practices, they can better treat disabled patients by applying the behavioral techniques and other knowledge learned at the center. 

“The dream of myself and the team is being able to train and teach other providers, other champions, who are going to go out there and treat our incredible disability community everywhere,” Serena Simone, one of the clinic’s practitioners, said. “Not having a center is the goal, because it should be the standard of care everywhere.”

Contact Paula DeMegret-Murray at [email protected].