ROANOKE, VA. (WFXR) – At Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke, a simple click of a button is helping dentists communicate faster and more clearly with patients.
The translation tool was created by three master’s students in the Carilion Clinic Biodesign Program at Virginia Tech. They say the idea came after months of observing just how difficult language barriers made dental appointments.
“The moment where it really just made it so clear for us was one of the dental hygienist doing a cleaning, a deep cleaning for a patient. We were just so shocked that it’s so hard to just be able to understand the most basic things. Not just for the patients, but the physicians themselves,” said Mahruck Siddiqui, a student in the Carilion Clinic Biodesign Program at Virginia Tech.
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The soundboard-style tool features pre-recorded Spanish phrases commonly used during appointments, along with QR codes linking patients to after care instructions…