Radius Dental Clinic

Community Initiative

Radius Community Health and Healing Dental Clinic (Radius) is a community dental clinic administered by the Radius Community Health and Healing Clinic, a non-profit organization focused on offering accessible, comprehensive, culturally sensitive, judgment-free primary care with a person-centred approach to residents of Edmonton’s inner city community.

Impact

Community impact

Previously known as the Boyle McCauley Dental Clinic (BMHC), it has been housed in the health clinic basement since 1992. After 25 years of operation, several factors necessitated the closure of the original dental clinic within BMHC and the move to a new location. On January 28, 2019, a new dental clinic officially opened, expanding the dental clinic to include eight dental operatories. The Mike Petryk School of Dentistry spearheaded the creation of the “new” facility in partnership with local stakeholders: BMHC, the Metis Nation of Alberta (who own the building the clinic is in and whose members are often socially marginalized and living in the surrounding community), and Alberta Health Services.

Patients at Radius encounter various barriers to accessing oral health and dental care. These barriers include financial, cultural, language, substance use disorders, lack of knowledge or awareness of their dental health, and the stigma associated with all those barriers. For some patients, English is not their first language. A family member will often escort these individuals to translate for them. Some of the patients are in abusive situations or have experienced trauma. Some are unhoused or are staying in shelters.