Across Florida, countless children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDD, face immense challenges in accessing the oral health care they desperately need—turning everyday challenges into daunting barriers to not only health, but also comfort, confidence and overall quality of life. The problem is multifaceted—the acute shortage of qualified providers, coupled with the sensory and emotional distress many individuals with IDD experience in traditional oral health care settings, makes even basic care difficult to obtain.
For more than a decade, UFCD has been pioneering solutions to close this critical gap. With the support of dedicated sponsors, UFCD has expanded services that do more than improve oral health – they restore dignity, build trust, and transform lives for patients and their caregivers.
One powerful example is UFCD’s Community Outreach Dental Program in St. Petersburg. This initiative is breaking down barriers by bringing care directly to those who need it most. A dedicated dental hygienist provides preventive, home-based services that ease anxiety, foster trust and reshape the patient experience from the ground up.
Beyond clinical care, the hygienist empowers caregivers, group home staff, and teachers in special needs schools with essential oral health education. When patients need advanced care, they are seamlessly connected to UFCD’s St. Petersburg Advanced Education in General Dentistry program, where residents are specially trained to deliver compassionate, individualized treatment.
This commitment extends across the state. At UFCD dental centers in Hialeah, Naples and Gainesville, teams are equally dedicated to ensuring that Florida’s most vulnerable populations receive the expert, compassionate care they deserve.