Nolan’s story: Rhode Island’s lack of dental care options for patients with special needs
by ALISON BOLOGNA, NBC 10 NEWS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Sometimes, all it takes is a phone call to change someone’s life.
I received a call from a teacher in Westerly who was desperate to help one of her special-needs students find a dentist.
For seven months, I looked into helping not only one boy’s life but exposing a larger systemic problem.
“Hi Alison, my name is Trecia Pimer. I’m a special educator in Westerly,” the phone call started.
That phone call brought me to meet Nolan Gingerella, who was born in Westerly.
“He’s a miracle for all he’s been through,” his mother Dana Gingerella said, adding that Nolan loves the Celtics.
Nolan Gingerella is a special-needs patient in need of dental care. (WJAR)
His mother knew 20 years ago when she gave birth that Nolan’s life would not be easy.
“Right from me having a C-section, they took him into surgery,” his mother said.
At that time, doctors diagnosed Nolan with encephalitis, which caused brain inflammation.
All these years later, Nolan copes with a seizure disorder, managed by numerous medications.
Dana Gingerella knew Nolan was going to have a tough life when he was born and immediately taken to surgery. (WJAR)
And if all of that wasn’t tough enough, there’s more.
He doesn’t talk, and he has seizures.
“He’s in pain because he has two teeth that need to be extracted, and to find a dentist that will do the extraction is very been difficult,” Gingerella said.
Nolan put his finger in his mouth during the interview.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that when he’s sticking his fingers in his mouth that he’s in severe pain,” said his mother.
Nolan Gingerella felt around in his month, which his mother believes he does when he is in pain. (WJAR)
When asked how many dentists does she think she’s called in the last month for help, Gingerella doesn’t hesitate.
“I’d say at least 20,” she said.
She said at this point it feels like she is almost begging for help.
Nolan isn’t alone. He has a team of advocates working for him. Like his teacher, who called Ask Alison.
“We are running into an issue right now with dental care for people with intellectual and development disabilities, and I know that you are the person that can help with this,” Pimer said in her phone call.
Pimer, who sat down with me, said, “In talking with our team, it’s a capacity issue, and I think that we just wanted to shine light on the lack of capacity for medically complex people who need dental care.”
Trecia Pimer is a Special Education teacher in Westerly and first reached out to Ask Alison about help for Nolan. (WJAR)
I went to the one place in Rhode Island that primarily works with special-needs patients to tell them about Nolan’s story, and it wasn’t news to them.
“Not at all. We get probably close to 100 patient referrals a week,” said Dr. Elizabeth Benz of the Samuels Sinclair Dental Center.
What’s the solution?
“We definitely need more facilities and more dentists that specialize in this special-care dentistry, as we call it,” Benz said. “Right now, we’re pretty much the only place that takes care of these specialized patients.”
NBC 10’s Alison Bologna listens to the message from Trecia Pimer seeking help for Nolan. (WJAR)
So mothers and teachers like Dana and Trecia have no choice but to fight. It takes months and months, and patients like Nolan suffer.
Pimer said she hopes that bringing the issue forward will spur someone to figure it out.
“We have worked with some really wonderful people that want to help, so I think that if this story comes out and people can just all hear it at the same time, maybe they’ll get together and it will be a wonderful Rhode Island thing,” said Pimer.
Nolan Gingerella felt around in his month, which his mother believes he does when he is in pain. (WJAR)
What does it take to get Nolan and other special-needs patients in to see a dentist?
I’ll have that part of the story Tuesday on NBC 10 News at 6.