“Healthy Athletes
Special Smiles is a
wonderful way to break
down the barriers in
working with people
with disabilities that often exists,”
said Steven Perlman, DDS, MScD,
DOHL (hon), a pediatric dentist whose
leadership launched Special Smiles in
1997. “Special Smiles has found that
most dental professionals—especially
those who don’t usually treat patients
with special needs—leave at the
end of the day with a much greater
appreciation of the problems that
people with disabilities face, and
in many cases a commitment to get
involved,” said Dr. Perlman, global
clinical advisor to the program.
At the Arizona event LMC Dental
Pediatric Dentistry and Advanced
Education in General Dentistry
residents and faculty members from
New York, Massachusetts, Maryland,
Florida, California and Hawaii were
trained to become Clinical Directors
for Special Smiles so that they may
conduct Special Smiles screening
at their local Special Olympics
competitions and events and expand
the Special Smiles program at the state,
county and local community levels.
“The collaboration between LMC and
Special Olympics Special Smiles is
very exciting. I am looking forward to
many more opportunities in the future
for LMC residents to provide services
to this wonderful population,” said
Denise Frances, DMD, LMC Dental
Associate Director for AEGD in North,
Central and Southern California.
Dr. Gary Goldstein,
DDS, MBA, believes
all dentists should
participate in Special
Smiles events to get
comfortable treating
4
“Special Olympics
Healthy Athletes
and LMC Dental
is an ideal
fit, because
LMC Dental’s
postdoctoral
residency training
is a unique
‘dentistry without
walls’ model that
is non-traditional
and cen ѕɕ