For decades, DVI has treated children and youth, and since 2016, pensioners and elderly. Today, DVI treats youth from ages 4-26 and provides dentures to patients aged 55 and over. But what about those pesky in-between ages? Parents of DVI’s children and youth, adult children who accompany their elderly parents for dentures. Even other treatments required by people aged 55 and older have been referred to private clinics by DVI. That is…until LATE NOVEMBER 2023, when a very special program commenced, a joint project of Dental Volunteers for Israel and the Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. All of these patients are now being treated for free by dental students at no cost to them on Wednesdays, at the DVI clinic they know and love, and can easily access.
Just as with DVI’s usual programs, patients may be referred to DVI on Wednesdays by Municipal Welfare Services and a host of nonprofit organizations, shelters, etc. Our impact is now BIGGER THAN EVER!
This unique collaboration makes DVI a full service ALL AGES clinic, and it deepens DVI’s existing connections with the Hadassah School of Dental Medicine; their current Dean, Professor Avraham Zini, hatched this idea with DVI’s own Dr. Roy Petel, who is also an Associate Professor at Hadassah. Dean Zini ALSO officially joined DVI’s Board of Directors and has begun attending DVI board meetings. Read more about Dean Zini on DVI’s website.
From the Perspective of the Hadassah/DVI Director and their Students: Dr. Alon Livni runs the community health division at Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. Dr Livni is known by the students to teach in a calm manner and is able to ease the fears of the students while encouraging them to gain experience and practice new procedures. Dr. Livni perceives the new program with Hadassa as one which completes the work that both Hadassah and DVI do on a regular basis. Meaning, they are able to provide dental treatment to the age group which is not covered at DVI during clinic hours and provide permanent crowns for patients, for an example of services not offered by DVI other days of the week. Conversely, even though dental services are at reduced cost if a patient receives treatment at Hadassah’s home clinic, the patients who come to them at the DVI clinic on Wednesdays, who are not able to pay anything, would not be treated at all if not for DVI.
Hadassah students in their 5th or 6th year of the program are also able to benefit by getting accustomed to different sets of instruments, different clinic set up as well as a different population to treat. And often, the cases that Hadassah students see at DVI are more complicated cases, which offers them more intensive learning opportunities. Some comments that Hadassah students have made on their evaluation forms after spending time at the DVI clinic include:
“The atmosphere at DVI is very pleasant, both in the clinic and with the patients. It was great to try different methods of working as well as different instruments that we hadn’t tried before.”
“I did not feel pressured, and the open space allowed for a lot of collaborative learning.”
“It was good to be challenged and learn how to manage with different tools that we are not used to from our clinic at the university. The DVI clinic is very organized, and the assistants were very helpful and attentive.”
“I really enjoy this clinic; I was very excited to gain theoretical knowledge and practical skills as well. I gained a lot of personal satisfaction from my time at DVI.”
“The environment was very conducive to learning, I will be most pleased to come and volunteer again at the clinic.”