New dental surgery center will cater to special needs patients | kens5.com | News

New dental surgery center will cater to special needs patients | kens5.com | News:

"Dr. Henry Chu has a heart for special need dental patients, people with mental or physical challenges who can’t sit still in a regular office setting. One of his patients, 31-year-old Meghann Hooper, has a condition called Williams Syndrome. It gives her extreme anxiety and a gag reflex that has kept her out of the dental chair for year. Chu put her under and gave her the care she needed.
“Dr. Chu gave me some fillings,” Hooper said. “He took a couple of teeth out…and that was it.”

Operating room space can be hard to find. That’s why Chu and his partners are building the Trinity Surgery Center at 2116 Babcock Road in San Antonio’s medical center. It will be a 65-hundred square foot, fully licensed surgery center specifically for special needs children and adults.

“Maybe they have epilepsy and they’re not able to sit still. Or they have Down’s Syndrome and they don’t even really understand why they’re having the work done,” Chu explained. “Our main goal is to do dental rehabilitation. And most of the patients coming to us, many of them have not been to the dentist in ten or 20 years.”

When dentists put these patients under and reverse years of damage, the results are dramatic. For the estimated 30,000 special needs individuals in San Antonio, the new facility will be a welcome addition.

“You know what? I think it’s a wonderful idea to have that because it’s a lot easier for me,” Hooper said. “I can be scared of it, but it’s a lot easier.”"