Free Dental Clinics Provide Care to Uninsured

Free Dental Work Reports — Local dentists to participate in program to provide free dental care to underserved children. Recession frays a health care safety net for low-income. Free mobile clinics draw crowds of uninsured. Free dental clinic scheduled.

Give Kids a Smile. Local dentists to participate in program to provide free dental care to underserved children.

BECKLEY — Learning the basics of good dental hygiene early in life goes a long way in keeping us healthy. The earlier those habits are instilled, the easier it is to keep them for a lifetime.

Friday, Beckley orthodontist Dr. Ed Eckley and five other volunteer dentists and orthodontists will work that magic on children ages 5 to 18 in the annual Give Kids a Smile promotion.

A national movement born in St. Louis, Give Kids a Smile seeks to provide free dental care to underserved children — those not covered by insurance, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

More: http://www.register-herald.com

Clinic in Louisa about more than teeth

From Fluvanna County, Richmond and even Pennsylvania, people lacking insurance but needing dental care flocked to a free clinic in Louisa County. Some asked for toothache relief and others discovered something about themselves that they didn’t know: They had high blood pressure or were at risk of diabetes.

More: http://www2.timesdispatch.com

Recession frays a health care safety net for low-income Nevadans

The weight of the recession is pushing Nevada Health Centers, the medical safety net for tens of thousands of low-income Nevadans, to the financial breaking point, officials with the nonprofit organization say.

The number of patient visits is up 25 percent to about 205,000 a year, and an increasing number of them — almost three in 10 — are uninsured, Nevada Health Centers CEO Tom Chase said. And when the uninsured agree to greatly reduced payment plans, they frequently stiff the agency.

The organization’s struggles are bad news for people such as Patricia Annis of Henderson. Annis, 67, is a retired legislative aid whose teeth are breaking. She’s desperate for care and heard about a Nevada Health Centers’ program providing free dental work to low-income elderly patients. Her $733 a month in Social Security income qualifies her.

More: http://www.lasvegassun.com

Free mobile clinics draw crowds of uninsured

The high school cafeteria had the low buzz of a student lunch period, even though it was 5:45 a.m. on a Saturday in Maryville, Tenn. A cadre of local volunteers sat at a row of 25 computers. Nurses waited for triage duty at tables. Other health professionals, coffee in hand, headed to their stations in a gymnasium or classroom.

More: http://www.walletpop.com

Free dental clinic scheduled in Barboursville

The Piedmont Regional Mission of Mercy will host a free dental clinic for the working poor, underinsured and uninsured next month.

The one-day clinic will offer services to adults over the age of 18. All patients will receive at least one of the follow-ing services: preventative dentistry (teeth cleanings), restorative dentistry (fillings) and oral surgery (extractions) at no cost.

The free clinic is scheduled for May 1 at the Barboursville Volunteer Fire Company, 5251 Spotswood Trail.

More: http://www2.starexponent.com