CENTRE OF ATTENTION: The Working Centre re-opens dental clinic with help from ‘key ingredient’ funding

Delmy Rodriguez, Dr. Eathar Noureen and Nory Gamboa working at the dental clinic

After being put on the back burner out of pure necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Working Centre's Community Dental Clinic is once again open.

That has The Working Centre Director Joe Mancini smiling.

The Working Centre is a non-profit, charitable organization. It was founded by Joe and Stephanie Mancini some four decades ago as a response to unemployment and poverty in Waterloo Region.

Food and housing became the immediate priorities throughout the pandemic. Those needs combined with complexities surrounding health regulations, led to the dental clinic, which had been operating since 2014, being temporarily shuttered in 2020.

"We were always committed to it," Joe Mancini said. "It was only in the last year that we started planning out how to put our resources towards that."

A significant portion of those resources came courtesy of the GreenShield Cares Community Impact Fund held at Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF), which effectively allowed The Working Centre's dental clinic to re-open in February 2023.

"It was the key ingredient," Mancini said. "We wanted to have a little bit of a base of funding. The clinic operates with volunteer dentists and hygienists, but we do employ a dental assistant who is kind of like the office manager. That was the one role we needed to get things going. When that was confirmed, that was a bit of a relief that we could move forward."

The funding allowed The Working Centre to hire a dental assistant who performs the role of full-time clinic coordinator. They were also able to purchase dental software that allows for easy documentation of services.

Between February and mid-June, 110 appointments have been scheduled in collaboration with qualified industry experts who volunteer their time and services. Seven dentists lent their expertise during that span.

"They're able to give us a half day here, a half day there," Mancini said.

Services include new patient exams, restoration, extractions, emergencies, and cleanings, utilizing two chairs at the downtown Kitchener clinic.

The dental clinic aims to improve access to preventive dental services and dental health care for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness.

According to a recent oral health study in Waterloo Region, 138,000 residents don't have dental insurance, while 104,000 residents avoided going to the dentist due to the cost.

Mancini said there have been fewer cancellations in this second iteration of the clinic, which could point to overall improved programming. Three hundred beds in four different shelters have been provided through The Working Centre's shelter work, he said.

"We're drawing from individuals in these shelters, specifically, who have major dental problems," he said, crediting "good cooperation between the housing, the outreach workers and the people coming to the dentist, the patients, and the dentists and hygienists."

He added: "I think the fact that we have people in housing, in the shelter situation and a lot more direct response, as opposed to someone who’s camping or in a very different kind of relationship with us. (Relationships are) a really important part."

The clinic's re-opening represents an important piece of the puzzle to the region's vulnerable population.

"Our group does not get access to dental. In some respects, there are all kinds of health services they can get access to. But dental continues to be, it’s not widely available unless you have money," Mancini said. "And also demonstrating to the wider community the importance of it. Someday, I think it should be covered as a medical service."

The financial assistance has been a genuine blessing, he added.

"Our gratitude to GreenShield and WRCF for supporting this project. It’s really important," he said.

If you would like to learn more about The Working Centre and the services they offer, visit their website at theworkingcentre.org.   

If you would like to join GreenShield and WRCF in supporting The Working Centre’s oral health programming, visit their website at donate.theworkingcentre.org.