Israel’s National Health Law does not cover dental care, a dental service for the Mentally Handicapped in Israel was established through Akim & the Allowance Fund of the Department for the Mentally Handicapped.

This dental care service has developed into one of the strongest and largest public dental care systems in Israel, providing dental care to over ten-thousand mentally handicapped people living in dormitories and hostels in the community.

The service consists of thirteen regional dental clinics across the country (from Acre in the north to Dimona in the south), each employing a permanent, professional staff (dentists, dental therapists and dentists’ assistants) capable of treating people with special needs.

Dental care is initiated by the clinics, i.e. wards are examined and treated regularly even when they do not complain of a dental problem, in order to perform preventive therapy and locate problems at an early stage in people who have difficulty expressing themselves and communicating with others.

These treatments give our wards a life devoid of suffering due to dental problems, enables them to chew, speak and generally function normally, as well as giving them an esthetic look. As a result they enjoy a decent quality of life, good health and acceptance by their surroundings.

The staffs’ professional experience and special equipment enables them to treat many problems at the clinics with no need to send patients to undergo total anesthesia with its concomitant risks.

The present budget of the fund makes it possible to maintain the present high quality of professional care. However, the addition of more dental clinics will make treatments more accessible, save money on travel, save time, reduce absence of wards from their occupations or schools, and improve their welfare and comfort. At the moment at least four clinics are needed in the following population centers in order to provide more efficient, accessible and convenient service: the Tel-Aviv metropolitan area (Gush Dan), Haifa, Beersheba and Ashdod. Equipment costs per clinic are about $50.000 each.

Another area which would be improved if more funds were available is orthodontic care, which today is only provided very rarely in extreme cases only. Orthodontic care can improve the way patients look; especially those suffering from problems of closure, and can also improve breathing, swallowing, speech and chewing. Because of the greater need for maintanance and rehabilitative dental care, orthodontic treatments, which by their nature are not urgent, get low priority. The costs of orthodontic treatment come to $1.500 to $3.000 per patient.

Akim dental clinics’ enjoy great prestige and draw more and more families of mentally handicapped people to seek help in taking care of their loved ones’ dental problems. Many of the families possess only modest means and are unable to cover the cost involved for the dental services    

Akim Israel needs additional funds to help the mentally handicapped to get better dental care.

For Donations: AKIM ISRAEL, BANK LEUMI LE-ISRAEL, BRANCH 682

HABARZEL 25.  TEL AVIV 69710

acc. No 700000/93

Swift code No LUMIILITXXX