Keewatin Yatthe Marks First Year Of Dental Service

Keewatin Yatthe Marks First Year Of Dental Service

Friday, December 04, 2009 at 16:58

A celebration at the health centre in Ile-a-la-Crosse this morning had a lot of people grinning — and no doubt, some of those smiles were brighter and whiter than they were a year ago.

That’s because the Keewatin Yatthe Health Region was marking the first anniversary of its adult dental care program.

The region made a special presentation to Dr. Gerry Labine, the dentist who — through a contract with the University of Manitoba — spends nearly half the year providing care for northern residents’ teeth.

Elaine Malbeuf is the region’s executive director of community health development, and she says she’s received a lot of “word of mouth” reports of how happy residents are with the new service.

“The travel distances that people had to contend with in the past in order to access service is no longer such a barrier to receiving care. So that’s a positive testimonial. Also, a couple clients that received root canals, for example, were very pleased with the service that they received, and the fact that it’s accessed just so close to home,” Malbeuf says.

She says the region is also pleased that, through their partnership with the Northern Health Strategy and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, the “full scope” of dental services is finally available in the north.