Free and Affordable Dental Care Report, Christmas 2008
December 24th, 2008
Free child tooth print services in February
In celebration of National Children’s Dental Health Month, Rocky River dentist Richard Betor will offer free “tooth print” services for children throughout February.
The kit is used in child identification and provides a tooth impression, DNA sample and other identifiers to be used if a child goes missing or is abducted. Tooth printing can be done after all primary teeth have erupted at about age three.
Updates are recommended at age 7 and then again at age 12, when all permanent teeth have emerged. After February, tooth print services are $25 per child.
Dental Program Expansion Gets the Ax
Olga Rodriguez takes her family to Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic to get the dental care they need. The clinic’s dental residency program provides service for free or at a low cost to low income families. Governor Gregoire has the program on her proposed state budget cut list. The program was set to expand next year. It would have cost the state $1.7 million. Dr. Mark Koday believes with a dentist shortage already, under served areas will lose out even more.
Dr. Mark Koday tells Action News, “This is just the first part of a very long number of months of drama that will occur. We have no idea if it will be put back in or not,” adding, “our hope is that we’ll come back with a reduced budget. It certainly won’t be in an expansion move for the next year or the next couple years, but we’re gonna retrench a little bit and weather the hard times just like everybody else will have to.”
Doctors, Dentists, Volunteers Journey to Needy in America
An organization whose mission is to bring free health care to some of the poorest countries in the world has turned its attention to the U.S. The U.S. Census Bureau reports nearly 46 million Americans have not health insurance. And so several weekends a year, an organization called Remote Area Medical (RAM), flies doctors and equipment to some of poorest areas of the country and treats patients at a cost of under $4 each.
Nearly 46 million people are uninsured in the U.S. but Brock says he sees many who have insurance. Their most common need is for dental and eye care. “They have insurance and it either has a very high copay, and so they can’t afford the copay, or it doesn’t cover those two essential services,” Brock stated.
Comfort Dental in Silverthorne gives free dental care
Comfort Dental in Silverthorne will hold its 25th annual Care Day on Christmas Eve, offering completely free dental services to anyone who is uninsured.
On the morning of Care Day last year, some 35 patients began waiting in line long before its start at 7:30 a.m.
“Some people waited in the parking lot so they could be first,” said Kay Robinson, a front-office receptionist. “… Last year was really kind of cool. We didn’t have to turn anyone away … and we met everyone’s needs.”
Care Day patients are helped on a first-come, first-served basis. Patients will receive a variety of basic dental care — from cleanings to extractions. More serious dental problems are handled on a case-by-base basis.
Dental clinic giving kids free treatment changes its name
The Smile Factory, a mobile dental clinic that provides free dental treatment to children throughout the Coachella Valley, has changed its name to Smile Factory Foundation.
With Eve Fromberg as its new executive director, and a relocated office in Palm Desert, the nonprofit entity also has a fresh logo and mission: “Improving Children’s Futures, One Smile at a Time.”
Each year the foundation provides 4- to 11-year-olds with free screenings, treatment and oral health care education to about 17,000 children and a range of services to more than 2,000 in need.
Categories: Dental News
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