The ABLE Clinic for Persons with Special Medical Needs
Meharry Medical College
School of Dentistry
1801 Meharry Blvd
Nashville, TN 37208
Phone Number:
615.327.6900
Office Hours
The clinic is open year-round except during holidays and exam weeks.
Mon. – Thur.
8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Fri.
8 a.m.– Noon
All patients are seen by appointment only, including emergencies.
For years, the healthcare community has turned its back on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, acquired disabilities and mental health. For years physicians, dentists, hospitals, and emergency rooms have quietly told patients with special medical needs and their families seeking care for them, to find that care elsewhere.
Now there’s another way. A better way. A healthy way. There’s a place where people with special medical needs are treated with tenderness, compassion, understanding and respect. There’s a place where doctors care for their patients with special medical needs with sensitivity; and they accept each of their patients as important and valued individuals.
Where compassion is not just an important thing.
It’s everything.
Services
The ABLE Clinic for Persons with Special Medical Needs offers a full array of comprehensive Developmental Dentistry services, specifically tailored to the unique needs of patients with special medical need. Dental care is provided by an experienced staff in a friendly and welcoming setting, where patients, families, and caregivers alike have come to trust in the clinicians and team-members who deliver that care.
Fees and Payment Plans
Our reasonable fees are approximately 50 percent lower than the average private dental office in the Nashville area. We accept TennCare and most private insurance plans as well as Visa, MasterCard, cash and check.
How to become a patient
All prospective patients are required to complete and return an application prior to scheduling their first appointment. You may call and have a packet mailed/emailed to you or stop by during regular clinic hours and complete the application on-site for faster service.
Any questions about the application can be directed to our patient care coordinator. Once you have been accepted as a patient, you will be contacted by our patient care coordinator to make an appointment.
You will be given an initial appointment via Zoom teledentistry for initial assessment. This will consist of two appointments:
1) new-patient intake* phone call, and
2) Zoom teledentistry.
This helps us plan for how we can best support your needs when you come to the clinic in person.
*A thorough review of your medical and dental history will be conducted during the new patient intake call. Please make sure to provide a list of current medications, diagnoses, and surgical history.
An in-person clinic appointment will be scheduled after completion of these two appointments. An exam and/or x –rays MAY be attempted during this visit.
All cleanings and other dental treatment will be provided at later appointments.
What to expect at your first visit
A parent or guardian must accompany the patient to his or her first visit, and we prefer that you also accompany him or her on subsequent visits. The patient’s medical history will be reviewed and discussed for any changes. A complete examination will be performed, and we will discuss the patient’s oral health needs and the services that we can provide.