McKinney doctor treats homeless Samaritan Inn residents with free dental care

It’s been about two years since Donna Johnson last sat in a dentist’s chair.

Homeless and living in a shelter the last four months, she hasn’t been able to afford it.

And she is anxious.

She crosses and uncrosses her legs. She stares at her hands in her lap. She twists the ring with a purple stone on her index finger.

She knew there was something wrong with a couple of back molars. One filling has fallen out. Another is cracked. It used to be painful to drink something cold or bite into something hot.

Now, it constantly aches.

She waits for an answer from Dr. Anthony Do. He says she needs a root canal, but that’s not an option that day. Johnson opts to pull the two teeth.

“Thankfully it won’t affect my smile since they’re in the back. It might affect my steak eating. That’s OK. I’ll just grind it up,” said Johnson, 48, who has been living at Samaritan Inn, a homeless shelter in McKinney, while she looks for a job and saves money for an apartment.

Johnson was one of 25 people from Samaritan Inn treated for free by Do on Sept. 12 at his Red Oak Family Dentistry practice, which opened eight months ago in McKinney. He plans to continue the free dental day event each year.

Do began treating Samaritan Inn residents while working at Woodlake Family Dentistry in Little Elm, but he saw them sporadically. When he opened his own practice, he wanted to expand the option to treat several in one day. That meant only basic cleanings, fillings and extractions on Saturday.

“These people are trying their hardest to get back on their feet, and they don’t have money. Who’s going to help them?” said Do, 32.

Some have never seen a dentist. Mouth pain makes it difficult for them to eat healthy, crunchy foods and rotted teeth make it challenging to find a job.

Dental care is one of the top service needs for homeless people in Dallas and Collin counties, according to the nonprofit Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance. About 24 percent of homeless people surveyed by the alliance for its “Point-in-Time” 2015 Homeless Count reported needing dental care. It ranked equal with job placement and only below bus passes.

“Dental services are the No. 1 thing that homeless people need that are slightly beyond a necessity,” said Cara Mendelsohn, director of marketing and advocacy at The Samaritan Inn.

Mendelsohn said McKinney Dental Group and Orthodontics also offers a day of free dental work to Samaritan Inn residents.

Since her divorce eight years ago, Johnson has lived paycheck to paycheck. After her marriage ended, she moved with her two sons from Texas to her hometown in Indiana to live with her parents. Her youngest son has cerebral palsy, so her parents helped get him to school while she worked. Still, money was tight. And it usually was spent on medical expenses for her kids, especially her youngest. Dental care for her sometimes didn’t make the cut.

“It was always pick which thing you’re not going to pay because you don’t have the money to cover it,” she said.

Last year, Johnson and her youngest son returned to Texas. Her oldest had moved back to the Dallas area a couple years before to live with his dad and play high school football. She’s counting on him landing a college football scholarship.

Johnson worked as a nanny before she was homeless, but quit her job to care for her youngest son after he had surgery. When her rental house was foreclosed on, she was out of a job and a home. That’s when she moved to The Samaritan Inn. Her two kids live with their dad.

But she doesn’t see them much. She used to drive a minivan, which she bought through her ex-husband and was making monthly payments. She still owed $1,500 on the car when she moved to the shelter. It was having transmission problems, so she gave it back. Now, she’s waiting for her parents to drive a hand-me-down van south from her sister.

A friend at the shelter with a car gave her a ride to her son’s last home football game. That’s why she moved back: to watch him play under the Friday night lights.

This week, she started a new job — a resident adviser at North Texas Job Corps Center. She’s saving for an apartment and life with her teenage boys.

But first, her teeth.

Do leans her back. A hygienist places sunglasses with black frames over her eyes. A television mounted from the ceiling plays an early Saturday morning HGTV show.

“It’s a boy,” Do said, as he pulled the first tooth.

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/mckinney/headlines/20150917-mckinney-doctor-treats-homeless-samaritan-inn-residents-with-free-dental-care.ece

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