Cory Costanzo expects patients to be lined up outside the Fresno Convention Center before dentists from all over California arrive on Friday morning to open a two-day free dental clinic.
Volunteer dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants will try to see 2,000 patients at the clinic on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3.
Costanzo, a Fresno orthodontist, won’t be surprised if some people have to be turned away at the end of the two days. Long lines for free dental care have been the pattern at six previous CDA Cares clinics held by the California Dental Association in the past three years, he said.
“The goal of CDA Cares is to address the large number of patients, for whatever reason, who don’t have access to dental care,” said Costanzo, who is in charge of the Fresno event.
Both adults and children will be treated at the clinic, but Costanzo said adults have predominately taken advantage of prior clinics that have been held in Modesto, San Diego, Vallejo, San Jose, Sacramento and Pomona.
Many of the adults have insurance but can’t find a dentist, he said. The central San Joaquin Valley has some of the highest rates of people on Denti-Cal, the dental insurance for people on Medi-Cal, the state-federal program for low-income residents, but many dentists don’t accept the insurance because reimbursement rates are so low, Costanzo said.
“The CDA has done some studies that showed up to 30% of Californians did not have access to dental care for one reason or another,” he said.
Patients with Denti-Cal also find there are limited benefits for adults, said Dr. Stanley Surabian, chief of dental services for Community Medical Centers and program director for the general practice residency program in dentistry in Fresno. For example, Denti-Cal pays only for complete sets of upper and lower denture plates, but not partial dentures, Surabian said.
The free clinic will offer partial dentures or “stay plates,” Costanzo said, and it will be able to provide complete dentures for people who have been missing their teeth for six months or longer. A limited number of root canals on front teeth also will be done. The dentists will provide fillings, extractions and cleanings.
Surabian said patients who have private dental insurance sometimes are unable to afford services. “Money is tight. People just don’t have it,” he said. “And there are a lot of bad plans where you get very little coverage anyway, and they find out when they’re ready to use it, unfortunately.”
Surabian said he and residents in the dentistry program will be participating in the CDA Care clinic. Community Regional Medical Center donated $10,000 to the CDA event.
Sister Mary Clennon, director of the Saint Agnes Holy Cross Center for Women and the Holy Cross Clinic at Poverello, expects dentists at the CDA Cares clinic will see patients similar to those who turn to Holy Cross for help.
The Holy Cross Clinic, which relies on volunteer dentists, provides services to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status. Some are undocumented immigrants and low-income individuals who do not have dental insurance, but others have dental insurance and can’t afford the co-payments for expensive procedures.
“People think we serve just the homeless and it’s not true,” she said. The Holy Cross Clinic provides dental services to about 300 people on average a month.
Clennon said the Holy Cross dental director will participate in the CDA Cares two-day clinic. Saint Agnes Medical Center contributed $20,000 to the clinic through its Community Benefit and Outreach program.
Shane Guthrey, 46, of Fresno, had no dental insurance in 2013 and turned to the Holy Cross clinic for help when pain became so severe he couldn’t sleep. He already had lost several teeth, and dentists at the clinic said he needed a complete set of dentures.
“I’ll forever be in debt and in appreciation of what happened in that clinic,” he said. Guthrey, who smiled to show off his teeth, now works as a maintenance man for Poverello House and now has dental insurance.
Holy Cross, Community and other health centers that provide dental services free or at low cost in the Valley will have patients referred from the CDA Cares clinic at the Convention Center, Costanzo said. Some will need more help than dentists at the two-day clinic can provide, he said. “A goal is to take care of their most urgent needs at this event but steer them toward these local clinics where they can continue their care.”
Source :http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article36875760.html
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