Shelley Schindell knows dental hygienists play a vital role in keeping long-term care residents oral health a priority. In fact, she's experienced it first-hand.
If it wasn't for mobile clinics that registered dental hygienists bring to these facilities, her mother Estella Stelter, who sadly passed away in March 2017, may not have had access to good oral care. And the unfortunate thing is that there are very few of these mobile services available. "It's great to see students getting out to facilities and providing care as part of their clinical experiences," says Schindell. "But they are only able to see a small number of clients and the need in long-term care is enormous."
Therefore, Schindell has created the Estella Stelter Award in Dental Hygiene - a five-year award that will see dental hygiene students receive $1,000 in recognition of their interest, skill, and experience in providing excellent and caring oral health care to those living in long-term care facilities.
"This award is in memory of my mom who spent the last 3 years of her life in long-term care. Once she was there, I became much more aware of how difficult it is to get to regular hygiene appointments," says Schindell, who works with dental hygiene BSc students at the School of Dentistry. "Mobility plays a huge role in getting residents to clinical appointments. It's great when the hygienist can come to them. I wanted to encourage students to consider this as a future professional endeavor."
"Many facilities are not fully aware of how important oral health is to the overall health of residents. Even if students don't go on to establish their own mobile clinics, I hope that in the future they will continue to advocate for better oral health care for this vulnerable population."
For Schindell it was important to create an award that was also available for dental hygiene degree-completion distance students. "They are already in the community doing this work," she says. "I wanted to establish an award that would be available to everyone."
While the details are still being hammered out, Schindell says this is one award her mother would have totally agreed with.
"My mom was very philanthropic her entire life and this is another way to continue on her legacy. She'd love it," says Schindell. "My mom took very good care of her teeth and had a lovely smile."