A Fellow’s Forays

Orange Grove Center. I have heard a lot of neat things about this place, but what is Orange Grove Center all about? Well, in a nutshell, it is a school, a habilitation center with medical, dental and therapy clinics, and a job site all wrapped in one. It is where developmentally disabled clients can go to learn and become healthy and habilitated so that they can assimilate into not only the workplace in the local Orange Grove community, but also the work place in the community of Greater Chattanooga to the best of their abilities; some even retire at Orange Grove’s affiliated off-site retirement homes.

Let me tell you a brief story of my experiences at Orange Grove. When I intially entered the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center, I noticed a sign that read “Welcome Dr. Hood”. I instantly felt very invited and special, and that set a positive tone from the very start of my experiences at Orange Grove. During the first day I went on a tour of the Morton J. Kent Habilitation and Orange Grove Centers with Dr. Rick Rader, the director of the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center. He showed me everything from the fountain in the lobby to the on-site recycling center where some of the Orange Grove clients work. We toured class rooms, the gym, the pool and hydrotherapy areas, physical and ocupational therapy rooms and the medical and dental clinics. I sat in on a music class and spent time in a warehouse and the ever-popular recycling center where the clients work for wages.

It took one whole day to tour the entire Orange Grove Center. It was quite an impressive place. And every person I met along the way seemed really happy to be at Orange Grove, whether it was the clients, staff members, teachers or clinicians. During the course of the week I got to spend at least a half of an hour or so in any one area within Orange Grove Center, but I mainly stayed within the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center. My purpose at the Morton J. Kent and Orange Grove Centers was to experience not only what their dental clinic was like as a rotating Developmental Dental Fellow, but to also experience what the rest of developmentally disabled dental patients’ lives are like in the real world, outside of the dental clinic. And with this insight I would be able to better relate and communicate with my patients as an advocate, and better serve not just their dental needs, but their overall well-being.

Throughout the week I was able to interact with teachers, therapists and clinicians and have dialogue with them as to how they participate in the habilitation process of the clients. It was very inspiring. I was also able to experience first hand a relaxing sensory therapy room, better known as a Snoezelen room. And I was able to understand the practical applications of such a therapy in not only the habilitation process of these individuals, but also as to how it could make for a more pleasant dental experience for these patients as well. My intention now is to better research some of these techniques in hopes of providing a more relaxed clinical environment and better dental care for my patients. The Morton J. Kent and Orange Grove experience has broadened my horizons in many ways. I was very thankful to have participated in this week-long rotation, especially as an invited guest of Dr. Rader.

Dr. Jeremy Hood is serving as a dental fellow at the Underwood and Lee Clinic in Louisville, KY. Part of his fellowship includes completing rotations in other clinics across the country, including at the Orange Grove Center in Chattanooga, TN.