Do you take your teeth for granted? The fact that you still have them, and they don’t cause you pain?
Then you are among the fortunate.
Hundreds of the region’s less fortunate streamed into the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington on Sunday for a free one-day clinic sponsored by the American Dental Association.
Some of those who came said that they had been living with chronic tooth pain for months or even years, unable to afford the care they need; others said their missing or damaged teeth had taken a toll on their confidence and self-esteem.
They came to the clinic for root canals, fillings, extractions and dentures.
They came for relief.
“God’s good and brought me here,” said Audrey Cacanindin Smith, 62, of Beltsville, Md., who came for dentures so that she could smile without embarrassment.
She had only six of her own teeth left. She had lost the others earlier in life or had extracted them over the past 18 months by visiting free clinics wherever she could find them. A retired secretary, Smith said that her Medicaid insurance does not cover the dental work she needs.
She was first in line when the clinic opened at 5:30 a.m., her prize for arriving more than 12 hours early and spending the night on the sidewalk. “I’ll leave here crying and happy,” she said.
A few hours later, Smith did cry when she saw her new smile for the first time. “Thank you all,” she said to the volunteer dentists who treated her. “You’re angels.”
This was the third time that the ADA held a Mission of Mercy free clinic in conjunction with its annual meeting, but it was the first time the association held one in the District. More than 200 dentists, hailing from small towns and big cities across the country, volunteered during the 12-hour event.
Patients lay side by side atop long rows of reclining chairs in an enormous hall filled with all manner of dental tools, including picks, mouth mirrors, X-ray machines and anesthesia.
Sally Cram, an ADA spokeswoman and D.C. dentist, said the goal is not only to help the most-vulnerable patients address their most pressing problems, but also to get them connected with dentists and physicians who can treat them in the long term.
Some 75 million people nationwide will not see a dentist this year, Cram said, often because they cannot afford to pay the full bill for treatment, and their health insurance policies either do not cover dental care at all or offer only limited coverage.
“A one-day event isn’t going to solve the issue,” she said.
A dozen state Medicaid plans have fairly comprehensive dental benefits, according to the ADA. The District and 19 states, including Virginia, have limited benefits. Fifteen states cover only emergency dental care, and four states, including Maryland, have no adult dental coverage, according to the ADA.
Demika Alston was one of many patients who said they had insurance and had gone to a dentist only to discover they could not afford the treatment they needed.
In her pocket, Alston carried a treatment plan from a recent visit to the dentist. It said that she needed gum treatment, fillings and a bridge to replace a missing tooth. Estimated total cost: $13,353. Her insurance would cover less than $800, leaving her with an out-of-pocket cost of $12,608.
“I have a lot of problems,” said Alston, 43, a mother of three who lives in the District and said that she was hoping to get two cavities filled and a cracked tooth repaired during the clinic. “This will help a lot, to get as much done as I can.”
Others said that they came because they were too busy to go to the dentist during regular business hours.
Brittany Hunt, 20, just wanted a cleaning. She has insurance that covers that kind of preventive care, but she never has time to use it: She’s a mom and a full-time college student who also works as a file clerk and event planner.
Spending a couple of hours on a Sunday is “easier than taking time off,” she said.
But for many, money is the biggest barrier to dental care.
Phebbie Scott, 49, was beaming as she was leaving. She’d had two root canals and a filling, and she was free of the pain that had been dogging her for a year.
“It just became unbearable,” she said. She went to the dentist, but treatment was out of reach, even with insurance paying half of the cost. She and her 27-year-old daughter, who had a pair of fillings, arrived at 4:16 a.m., they said, and were numbers 33 and 34 in line.
“Thank God for the ADA and the Mission of Mercy,” Scott said. “I’m so grateful for these people.”
Steven Austin, a 55-year-old retired school bus driver, said he went to the convention center after seeing a news report about the free clinic on TV. It had been two years since he had been to the dentist, he said, and he needed a cleaning and a pair of fillings.
“I’m just glad to be able to get it done,” Austin said.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/free-one-day-dc-dental-clinic-draws-hundreds-of-people-in-need-of-care/2015/11/08/b40602c6-863c-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html
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