The ABLE Clinic for Persons with Special Medical Needs

female dentist in deep concentration

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. 

two dentists attending to a patient with care

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.  

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. 

The ABLE Clinic for Persons with Special Medical Needs
Meharry Medical College, School of Dentistry
1005 Dr. D. B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Third Floor
Nashville, TN 37208

Phone Number:
615-327-2888 or 6297

Monday — Thursday, 8 a.m. — 4 p.m. 
Friday 8 a.m. — Noon

All patients are seen by appointment only, including emergencies. The clinic is open year-round except during holidays and exam weeks.

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 Tele dentistry for initial assessment. This will consist of two appointments: 1) new-patient intake* phone call, and 2) Zoom Tele dentistry. 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 us a current medication list, list of 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. 

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.  

Contact

615-963-2888 or 615-327-6297
Monday — Thursday, 8 a.m. — 4 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. — Noon