BEAUFORT DELTA - Some Beaufort Delta residents have been waiting years to get their teeth fixed due to delays in getting the area a new orthodontist.

Inuvik resident Elizabeth Vittrekwa, originally from Fort McPherson, has been waiting several years for an orthodontist to see her two teenage sons and in the meantime has been demanding answers from the Health and Social Services department via e-mail, fax and phone. - Katie May/NNSL photo

After the region's previous full-time orthodontist left in September 2009, the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Authority was unable to find another specialist until March 2010, when a B.C. orthodontist signed a three-year contract to see patients in Inuvik once every six weeks starting in May. Further delays resulted in that start date being pushed to this month, and temporary specialists have only made a dent in the waitlist. Fed up with the wait, some families have paid hundreds of dollars out of their own pocket to see southern orthodontists.

But for most, like Inuvik mother Elizabeth Vittrekwa, that's just not an option.

"I've thought about it," said Vittrekwa, who's originally from Fort McPherson. "But then you're going to have to think about hotel rooms, you're going to have to think about food and transportation. It all adds up. Basically I can't afford it."

Vittrekwa has been trying to get her two teenage sons in to see an orthodontist since 2004. Over the past six years they've remained in limbo, experiencing repeated delays in getting referrals from the dentist to make orthodontist appointments, then waiting for a visiting orthodontist to see them. By the time her sons were put on the wait list to see the orthodontist, Vittrekwa was told their referrals had expired.

"It makes me really angry and really frustrated. Many times I wanted to throw in the towel and say, 'this is it. I'm not touching this. I'm not fighting anymore with anybody.' But the reality is that they're my children. As a mother you want the best for your children. You protect them in every way," she said, adding that includes specialty dental services. "It's totally frustrating and heartbreaking that we can't even do it."

Vittrekwa has demanded an explanation for the wait, and has a stack of correspondence detailing her many e-mails, faxes and phone calls to her MLA, the Department of Health and Social Services and even the region's new contracted orthodontist. She says it should be easier for the public to access dental services in the region.

"This is totally ridiculous," she said. "How (many) people in the NWT have given up on even trying to get an orthodontist appointment? I would like to know that. There's no one that they can talk to."

Mackenzie Delta MLA David Krutko raised that question in the legislative assembly on Nov. 5, asking Health Minister Sandy Lee if the department would help pay for patients in the Beaufort Delta region to see specialists elsewhere to lighten the orthodontist's load in Inuvik. Lee promised to get a complete update as to how many people were on the waitlist and what options are available to speed up the process. She also said she would ask the department to put out a public advisory letting people know about the state of the service in the Delta.

"It's not the first time I've asked these questions," Krutko told News/North, saying he receives regular complaints from his constituents. He said people come up to him in the airport and say they're flying south just to see an orthodontist.

"They don't have any other options and most people are taking it on their own to pay out of pocket," he said. "If that's going on, we definitely should be telling the government that we do have an essential service and it's not being provided, especially in the Inuvik region," he added. "If it means taking the patients out and seeing a specialist elsewhere, I think that should be an option they should seriously consider also."

Despite the backlog, most patients – usually those who already have braces and need them adjusted – are eventually being seen now.

Fort McPherson Mayor Hazel Nerysoo's family waited several months to see the orthodontist in Inuvik before the new contract was signed.

"My needs are being met now," she said. "If you talked to me a couple of months ago I would've told you lots (of concerns)."

Beaufort Delta Health Authority CEO Deborah Tynes did not return calls for comment, but last March she told News/North that about 50 people in the region required orthodontic services, meaning they already had braces or retainers, and that many more were waiting for their first visit.

"Orthodontics is a specialty service, and it's not easy to find that service or to get somebody to come," Tynes said in March when the health authority announced it had signed an orthodontist contract. "I know a lot of people thought that having a break in service from September (2009) and having an interim orthodontist and now a full-time one was too much of a break in time, but it's not an easy specialty to find someone to do this service."

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