WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A new two-chair dentist clinic at the VCU School of Dentistry aims to expand care for adults and children with disabilities after families struggled to find willing providers.
The Dr. Roger Wood Special Care Clinic opened for in-person visits last month in the Lyons Dental Building on VCU Health’s MCV campus. Named for a retired Midlothian dentist who devoted his career to special-needs care, the clinic converts former lab space into a dedicated treatment area.
For the Bodett family of Williamsburg, the clinic offered long-awaited relief. Their daughter, Tori, who has disabilities from a traumatic brain injury at age 2, had months of dental pain after her pediatric dentist retired and other practices declined to treat her.
After a VCU Health specialist recommended the School of Dentistry and a telehealth visit, Tori is expected to be among the first patients to receive care at the new clinic.
“We were so relieved to see she was finally going to get proper care,” Karen Bodett said at the clinic’s ribbon cutting in August.
School leaders cited strong demand and gaps in access as reasons for creating the clinic. According to the 2021–22 National Core Indicators, only 56% of Virginians with developmental disabilities receiving state services had a dental exam — far below the roughly 75% rate seen in many states and the state’s 86% goal from 2022.
“Many providers lack experience with special needs patients or are unable to accept Medicaid,” said Dr. Lyndon Cooper, dean of the School of Dentistry. He estimates the clinic can see 400–600 patients a year and will also train new dentists to improve regional access.
Cooper said the school will not overpromise but expects the chairs to be in regular use. VCU Health plans to move the School of Dentistry in 2029 to a larger 312,000-square-foot facility on the MCV campus, where officials hope to double the clinic’s size and expand capacity further.
The new clinic joins a small number of Virginia facilities focused on special-needs dentistry, providing a regional hub for patients whose care has often been overlooked or delayed.