Celebrating National PACE Month: How Portable Dentistry Supports Whole-Person Senior Care

September is National PACE Month, a time to recognize the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and the dedicated professionals who help older adults receive comprehensive care while continuing to live in their homes and communities.

At Enable Dental, we are proud to support PACE organizations by helping make dental care more accessible through portable dentistry. By bringing dental services directly to PACE centers and participants’ homes, Enable Dental helps remove transportation barriers and makes it easier for participants to receive the care they need.

This National PACE Month, we are celebrating the PACE programs, care teams, caregivers, and participants who make whole-person care possible.

Understanding the PACE Model

PACE is built around a simple but important goal: helping older adults remain safely and independently in their homes and communities.

PACE serves adults age 55 and older who meet their state’s requirements for nursing home-level care. Rather than relying on a single point of care, PACE brings together an interdisciplinary team to address a participant’s medical, dental, social, and functional needs.

The Interdisciplinary Care Team (IDT) may include:

• Physicians and dentists
• Nurses and home health aides
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapists
• Social workers
• Dietitians
• Transportation and day center staff
• Other specialists and care professionals

This coordinated approach allows care teams to look at the whole person rather than treating individual health needs in isolation.

And oral health is an important part of that picture.

Why Dental Care Matters in Whole-Person Care

Oral health affects much more than a person’s teeth and gums. For older adults, untreated dental problems can make it difficult to eat, speak, sleep comfortably, or participate in everyday activities.

Common oral health concerns may include:

• Difficulty eating: Dental pain, broken teeth, or ill-fitting dentures can make it harder to eat comfortably and maintain adequate nutrition.
• Oral discomfort: Untreated cavities, gum disease, and other dental conditions can cause persistent pain and affect quality of life.
• Challenges managing daily activities: Some participants may need additional support accessing and tolerating traditional dental appointments.
• Reduced social engagement: Oral discomfort, tooth loss, or concerns about appearance can affect confidence and willingness to talk, smile, or participate socially.

For PACE participants with mobility limitations, cognitive impairment, dementia, or other complex needs, simply getting to a traditional dental office can create another barrier.

Portable dentistry helps bring the care to them.

Bringing Dental Care Where Participants Are

Traditional dental care often requires a participant to travel to an outside dental office. For some PACE participants, transportation, mobility, scheduling, or other challenges can make that process difficult.

Enable Dental takes a different approach.

Our portable dental services bring professional dental care directly to PACE centers and participants’ homes, helping make dental care more accessible and convenient.

Enable Dental proudly serves 26,000+ PACE participants across 30 states, partnering with PACE organizations to expand access to dental services where participants already receive care.

Portable Care, Wherever It Is Needed

Our clinicians use high-tech portable dental equipment to provide services in the participant’s home or at a PACE center.

Depending on the participant’s individual needs and treatment plan, services may include:

• Dental examinations
• Professional cleanings
• Digital X-rays
• Fillings
• Extractions
• Denture services and adjustments
• Other medically necessary general dental services

Portable equipment allows our clinical teams to provide care without requiring participants to leave their familiar environment for every appointment.

Care Designed Around the Participant

Every participant has different needs. Some may have mobility limitations. Others may experience cognitive impairment, dementia, physical disabilities, anxiety, or difficulty tolerating traditional dental settings.

That’s why participant-centered care is at the heart of the Enable Dental approach.

Our dental teams focus on creating a comfortable, respectful, and supportive experience, while working with care teams and caregivers to understand the participant’s individual needs.

Meeting participants where they are can help reduce unnecessary barriers and make it easier for them to receive ongoing dental care.

Supporting the PACE Interdisciplinary Care Team

Dental care works best when it is connected to the participant’s overall care plan.

Enable Dental works alongside PACE organizations and care teams to support communication and coordination throughout the dental care process.

By collaborating with the interdisciplinary care team, dental providers can better understand the participant’s overall needs while helping care teams stay informed about dental concerns and recommended treatment.

This partnership supports a more connected approach to care, where oral health is recognized as an important part of the participant’s overall well-being.

Portable Dentistry Can Help Remove Transportation Barriers

For many PACE participants, transportation is more than an inconvenience. It can be a significant barrier to accessing care.

Getting ready for an appointment, arranging transportation, traveling to an outside provider, and navigating an unfamiliar environment can be challenging for participants and caregivers.

Portable dentistry changes that experience by bringing care to the participant instead of requiring the participant to travel to the care.

Whether care is provided at a PACE day center or in a participant’s home, Enable Dental helps PACE organizations make dental care more accessible while supporting the participant’s comfort, dignity, and independence.

Celebrating the PACE Community

National PACE Month is an opportunity to recognize the people who make whole-person care possible every day.

From physicians and nurses to social workers, caregivers, dentists, therapists, transportation teams, and countless other professionals, PACE teams work together to support the health and independence of older adults.

Enable Dental is proud to be part of that collaborative effort.

Through portable dentistry, participant-centered care, and collaboration with PACE organizations, Enable Dental helps bring dental care closer to the people who need it.

This September, we celebrate the PACE participants, care teams, caregivers, and organizations working together to make aging in place possible.

Happy National PACE Month from Enable Dental!