The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

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September 10, 2007

CLINIC A SUCCESS

Dentists see 306 patients

DAMIEN ALDACOSTA

The Missions of Mercy had a huge impact on the community with its free Dental Healthcare Clinic over the weekend.

The clinic provided an estimated $106,000 worth of dental care to 306 people – anybody who needed it and could not afford it. They provided every thing that was needed from 57 teeth cleanings to 106 fillings to 500 extractions.

Patients came from Pinetops, Conetoe, Rocky Mount, Greenville, Williamston, Nashville, Plymouth, Robersonville, Windsor, Wendell and the Battleboro community.

"This truly is an amazing service," said Carol Quigless of the Quigless Healthcare Center in Tarboro, which sponsored the event. "We have had a great turnout."

Quigless along with the numerous doctors and University of North Carolina dental students were all high spirited and enjoyed providing this priceless service to the community.

"There is a huge need for this," said Dr. Jerry Price, a Tarboro dentist. "By doing this, we are sending the message out that we don't want anybody left out."

The great need for dental care that people can't afford comes from the failing dental health care program that the state has.

"Our state legislature needs to realize that there needs to be changes made to the dental healthcare program," said program organizer Dr. Steve Slott of Burlington. "If they improved medicaid coverage of dental care, we could double the number of dental care providers that accept Medicaid across the state.

According to Slott, a lot of dentists don't accept Medicaid because of the low coverage that it provides for people who have it. Medicaid normally pay less than 50 percent for dental care.

"People just can't afford to pay for the rest and dentists can't afford to provide the dental care," Slott said.

This free dental clinic, however, helps the community greatly by helping those who can't afford to get dental work done with their current coverage.

Slott sets up a clinic similar to this one every month all around the state.

"I think this is a good thing for the community," said Harry Ballard, 57, of Tarboro. "It should be done every year."

Ballard had two teeth pulled at the clinic on Friday.

"These clinics have a huge demand and a huge impact on the communities," Slott said. "The turn out for patients and volunteers is amazing."

This weekend's clinic saw volunteer dentists from all of the surrounding areas including Greenville and Rocky Mount.

"There will be a similar clinic on a much larger scale next March in Rocky Mount," said Dr. Richard Hunt, a Rocky Mount dentist.

According to Hunt, there is expected to be more than 100 dentists at the event that will happen on the first full weekend in March.

"We expect to have dentists come from all of the surrounding areas," said Hunt. "At least 1,500 to 2,000 people will travel to the clinic. People will have to travel to get the kind of dental care they need."

Hunt said the UNC dental students are also always willing to help out at these clinics, and that it is great for students to start their careers as volunteers for these clinics.

"People are very appreciative of this," said Price. "This is a very worthy goal."

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