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My dad's SNF no longer has access to a dentist/hygienist who will visit the facility, which means that dad has gone a year without a dental visit. He gets oral care every day and can still brush his own teeth. I've called all the dentists within 50 miles and none can see him because he is unable to transfer into the dental chair without a lift. He has dementia and I worry that any visit to a dentist will be hard on him cognitively, let alone a long drive to get there.


I've even wondered about seeing if we could hire a hygienest ourselves to come in, but I'm sure there would be insurance/liability issues which would make it a no-go even if one was available and willing to do that. Perhaps in the big picture, it's not a priority, but he's in overall good physical health (a stroke weakened his right side and put him in the wheelchair, but he has no other health issues other than dementia), and I would hate for a dental issue to cause other, more serious health issues.


What have others done?

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My dad’s dentist came to his house when dad was in hospice at home. But he’d been his patient for years, so there was a relationship before that.
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It sounds like you will have a very hard time getting him into a dentist chair so I would let that idea go. Is the facility working on getting a new hygienist?

I would try not to stress about it too much but keep looking for someone that can come to the facility.

Good luck.
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Korky777, keep looking, there has to be a dentist who takes care of patients, young or older, where the patient is in a wheelchair. Try searching on the Internet "dentist for special needs adults".
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Medicaid provides dental in SNF. If Dad is on Medicaid, I would call his caseworker and ask how you can go about getting a medicaid dentist to come in and get paid by Medicaid.
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