By John Boldrick
Lawrence DeRushie has been without dental coverage for about four years now. The lack of care has clearly taken a toll on his oral health.
“Currently I have absolutely zero coverage. No one will help me and by the looks of it I have gingivitis,” he said.
DeRushie is one of the residents that could receive help from Belleville city councillor Pat Culhane, who is petitioning the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care for better dental care for the city’s adults.
Culhane attended a recent public meeting of the health care board and asked members of the board if there were any way for working class citizens to get assistance in paying for dental care.
Culhane was told there is dental care for under privileged children 17 and under, and also dental coverage through programs such as Ontario Works and Social Assistance. But there is nothing for working adults who are just over the poverty line and are not on any type of government program.
“They make a minimum wage, or just above it, they have no benefits but they pay all their own bills, and by the time you pay your rent and your food and all your day to day expenses, dental care gets shoved to the back of the bus,” said Culhane.
Culhane plans to write a letter to the Ministry of Health in an attempt to get coverage if she can get approval from the health board. She also plans to present the letter to Mayor Neil Ellis and other city councillors at their next meeting.
The hope is that the council will pass the information onto other municipalities. From there, the other municipalities could write to the ministry, urging them to provide coverage for working class people.
“Hopefully we get a whole bunch of people on board,” said Culhane. “I would like to see the ministry begin to put some thought into providing dental care for that class of people.”
The cause is a personal one for Culhane, who has worked as a nurse for 43 years, including 22 in the emergency room. She has been a first hand witness to the effects of neglected dental care.
“It’s my nursing background and my position with public health that brought it to the forefront- this is a real problem,” she said.
Culhane said dental abscesses are one of the problems that can come about from leaving dental health unattended.
“Dental pain is a really wicked pain. A dental abscess is one of the nastiest things, from a pain perspective,” she said.
Abscesses can be treated with a combination of antibiotics and pain pills, however without proper care, the condition is likely to return later on, leading to a never-ending circle.
Other procedures, such as root canals, which are a necessity in dental health, are often avoided because of the cost of the operation, which can often be too much for working class people to pay for out of pocket, according to Jordan Boomhour, who used to receive dental care through the Ontario Disability Support Program, but has been without coverage for seven years.
“I’m glad I had coverage because wisdom extraction isn’t cheap,” he said.
In years past, people could go to Maxwell College on Front Street and get their teeth cleaned by students in the dental hygiene program for free or minimal cost.
“That’s the only place we had to send people to try and take care of their teeth,” said Culhane.
However, with not enough students enrolled in the program, the service is not being offered at this time.
If everything were to work out according to Culhane, a program would be put in place were people would show their T4 slip to get a reduced rate on dental care. The province would then cover the remainder of the costs.
“I’m ultimately hoping that if you’re working a minimum wage job and you have dental issues, you will be able to access some sort of subsidized program,” she