By Nevin Zablotsky, DMD

We are all blessed and challenged by life's vagaries, some of us more than others. How we deal with our blessings and challenges helps determine who we really are. Many of us take for granted the health of our children, but the families of Special Olympians have never had that luxury. Despite this, they have learned that some of life's treasures are found in unanticipated places.

In February of 2001, Dr. Steve Perlman, the founder of the Special Olympics Special Smiles Program, invited me to join him in Anchorage, Alaska to work with dentists from around the world to perform dental screenings of the Olympians, at the Special Olympics International Games. Over 1,750 athletes from 80 nations gathered to participate in seven winter sporting events, Alpine and cross country skiing snowboarding, snowshoeing, high speed and figure skating and floor hockey. I wondered how the oral and overall health of the athletes, from varied cultures and with different healthcare access, would compare to that of the athletes I had worked with in Vermont.

The first international Special Olympics was born in 1968 at Chicago's Soldier Field, thanks to Eunice Shriver’s vision of people with intellectual disabilities competing in sports and physical activities. Over the years, millions of children and adults with intellectual disabilities have competed in the Special Olympics with programs in 204 countries around the world. The programs have helped raise the athletes’ fitness levels as well as their self-esteem. This has carried over to an improvement in their performance at school and at work, and also has taught others in society that people with special needs are able to have productive lives.

“As time passed and I became more comfortable addressing the athletes’ dental needs. I realized that our mission was to help them maximize their overall health as well…”

— Nevin Zablotsky, DMD

For five intensive but gratifying days in Alaska I was fortunate enough to work and bond with some of the most kind, intelligent, and committed people in our profession. Despite the fact that we came from different countries, our dental knowledge and compassion provided a common bond. I also learned that dental caries and periodontal disease have no boundaries, and that the word for pain can be spoken in all languages. There were approximately 1,300 out of 1,750 athletes attending, the games were screened, and the healthy athletes program which included audiology, dentistry, dermatology, nutrition, optometry, and physical therapy provided over $735,000 in healthcare services. Every athlete presenting with a medical and/or dental emergency was treated. 1,100 mouthguards were made, and the Phillips Oral Healthcare company generously donated 1,600 Sonicare toothbrushes.

The data we collected for each athlete was sent to the University of Maryland for compilation and analysis and this information was then distributed to governments all around the world. It was hoped that this knowledge would encourage them to pass legislation that could be used to improve the dental and medical education for healthcare providers treating patients with special needs, as well as allocating monies for their treatment. We hoped that this work could help achieve the ultimate mission of the Healthy Athletes program: to increase access to dental and medical services for Special Olympics athletes, as well as all people with intellectual disabilities.

An added bonus to my trip was that I could share this experience with the Vermont families I had interacted with at our Summer Games. I loved watching our athletes win 5 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze medals, and how achieving their goals gave them a terrific boost to their confidence.

As I reflect on my over 40 years of working with Special Olympic athletes, I realize how much my experiences have positively changed my perspective on looking at many things. In the 1980’s when I coached an athlete in track, I was focused on his athleticism more than his intellectual disabilities. This changed once I became the director of the Special Smiles program, as I needed to expand my knowledge of this population’s dental needs given my limited exposure to treating them being as a periodontist. As time passed and I became more comfortable addressing the athletes’ dental needs. I realized that our mission was to help them maximize their overall health as well, and by doing so, we could help free them to reach their greatest potential unencumbered by dental and medical issues.

For the past 25 years, I have written and lectured about the negative impact of tobacco and nicotine products on people’s health. Given that I had no idea how prevalent the use of these products was with people with intellectual disabilities, I created a survey for the athletes to fill out at the Summer games. I hoped this might tell us how much exposure the athletes had to these products and whether they were using them; understanding that they were particularly vulnerable to peer pressure. With the advent of e-cigarettes, and now nicotine pouches, this survey takes on even more importance in guiding us to help maintain our athletes’ good health.

I have been truly fortunate to work with the Vermont Dental Society as they helped recruit dental students to participate in our dental screenings, which not only helped educate them in working with this population of patients, but also attracted them to practice in Vermont as we do not have a dental school to “feed” us new dentists. They also arranged to have dentists throughout the state provide care for those with emergent needs. In addition, we have been fortunate to collaborate with dental hygiene students, and dental hygienists as well as dental assisting students and dental assistants during the Special Smiles screenings at the Summer games, as well as other events. By educating the entire dental team, we have created a dental office environment that is in sync with the mission to provide excellent dental care to everyone.

Over these past 40 years, I have learned that those with intellectual abilities are not to be feared because they are “different”. I have learned that they are kind and caring individuals who come from kind and loving families that have embraced their disabilities, and helped them achieve things that many would have never thought possible. I have been, and continue to be blessed to know them all.

About the Author

Reflecting on 40 Years of Working with Special Olympics Athletes

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