| Many Turned Away From Free Dental Clinic |
|
By Colin Poitras, April 13, 2008 The Hartford Courant
The line of taillights glowing in the pre-dawn darkness snaked back nearly a mile from the old Tolland High School on Saturday.
Closer
to the school, people were walking along the side of the road, a steady
stream of dark silhouettes rising out of the morning mist like refugees
in a war zone.
There were elderly couples clutching their canes,
hunched-over veterans, single mothers with young children in tow. A
woman on crutches limping along.
It was 5 a.m., and they came by the hundreds, a throng of pilgrims with a common goal - free dental care.
Dr.
Ronald Linden of Shelton gets a close look into a patient's mouth using
magnifying loupes attached to his glasses. (STEPHEN DUNN, Hartford
Courant)
Some heard about it on the radio, others saw it on TV or read about it
in the newspaper. Connecticut's Mission of Mercy, the first ever
single, large-scale free dental clinic to be offered in the state.
"This shows we have a broken system and have to find some way to
correct it," said Dr. Bob Schreibman, a Glastonbury pediatric dentist
and one of the Connecticut mission's organizers. "This is not a
solution. This is a stop-gap measure to address people's immediate
needs. This points out there is a huge need even in this, the richest
state in the country."
Inside the school, more than 190 volunteer dentists were waiting along
with 800 volunteers. Free fillings, check-ups, extractions. No
questions asked.
The high school's cafeteria and gym were outfitted like a field
hospital, with 60 dental chairs shipped in from the Midwest, portable
X-ray machines and boxes upon boxes of latex gloves and sterilized
dental tools.
The crush of patients was so large that by 7 a.m., people were being turned away.
. . .
For some, the clinic is a blessing, a reprieve from their aches and
pain. But for those who didn't get inside, the struggle continues. Many
in the pre-dawn dark turned back upon seeing the long line.
"It's pretty bad," said one 67-year-old Stafford Springs woman, as she
walked back to the parking lot with no umbrella, soaking wet from the
rain. Struggling to catch her breath from the walk, the woman said she
had come to get her tooth pulled at 5 a.m. but already knew she'd never
get in. Like the others, she can't afford dental insurance.
As she climbed into her car, the woman was asked what she was going to
do. Water dripped off her hair as she wearily shook her head.
"Just going to pray, I guess."
Read the Full Story, including pictures . . .
|
About COHI
|
The
Connecticut Oral Health Initiative, or COHI for short, is a state-wide
collaborative of dental professionals, business and community leaders.
Our Mission is Oral Health for All. We work to persuade, educate
and inform decision makers and the general public about the important
issues involving oral health. We started in 1992 as a project of the
Connecticut State Dental Association and incorporated as a separate
501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in 2003. We are supported by your
tax-deductible contribution and grants from progressive foundations and
businesses.
|
|
|
Hundreds Turn Out for Free Dental Care
|
|
What
they're doing this weekend at the free dental clinic is not the answer
to the lack of access the dental care. "Charity is not a health care
system"
- DrBrian Duchan, President, Connecticut State Dental Association
By Christine Stuart, April 12, 2008
CTNEWSJunckie.com
They
packed the bleachers in the gymnasium at the old Tolland High School
waiting their turn and watching the more than 190 volunteer dentists
and 90 hygienists work on patients at the Connecticut Mission of Mercy
free weekend dental clinic.
Some were in pain, most had no dental insurance, and most worked 40 hours a week.
. . .
Doug Hardy photo
 Amber
Zigadlo, 20, of Stafford Springs said she's been trying to get her
cavity fixed for awhile, but between working 20 hours a week at the
local Dunkin Donuts and 27 hours a week at Johnson Memorial Hospital
there just never seems to be enough money.
Nancy Gulash of
Hamden said at the moment she's unemployed and her COBRA health
insurance doesn't cover dental. But that's nothing new. She said her
previous two employers didn't offer dental insurance. She drove to
Tolland Saturday because she recently had a filling fall out. She said
she knew it would be a long drive from Hamden to Tolland, but figured
she had nothing to lose.
Doreen Olsen of Ashford said she
arrived at the clinic around 5:45 a.m. to get two of her 7 year old
son's teeth removed. Olsen said her son, Jeremy Krane, is on the
state's Medicaid program called HUSKY, which is supposed to cover
dental work. However, Krane's teeth needed to be taken out in pieces
and Olsen said she "couldn't get anyone to do it."
Olsen said
for the past 8 months she's been unable to get an appointment with the
oral surgeon's office that accepts HUSKY insurance. "You get a
recording saying all appointments are filled through May," she said.
Then when you call in May it will say all appointments are filled
through June, Olsen said.
Natalie Echevarria, 18, of East
Hartford said the last time she visited a dentist was maybe two or
three years ago. As she waited her turn in the bleachers Saturday to
get a few fillings, she said "this is like a once in a lifetime
opportunity."
Six-hours after the clinic opened, Connecticut
Mission of Mercy spokeswoman, Carol Dingeldey, said she believes they
will end the day having treated more than 700 patients.
As she
looked out over the gymnasium floor, she said, "This just underscores
the need in a state with one of the highest per capita incomes." Dr.
Robert Schreibman, said earlier this week at a press conference, that 1
million Connecticut residents lack access to dental care. At that same
press conference, Dr. Brian Duchan, president of the Connecticut State
Dental Association, said he would like people to remember that what
they're doing this weekend at the free dental clinic is not the answer
to the lack of access to dental care. "Charity is not a health care
system," he said.
. . .
Read the Full Story, including
YouTube video from the event . . .
|
Hundreds Line Up Early For Free Dental Care
|
|
WFSB News Video with images of the pre-dawn line of patients
See the Video Link . . .
|
|
Open wide: Hundreds flock to free dental clinic |
|
 By Stacey A. Silliman, April 14, 2008,
Journal Inquirer
TOLLAND - Within two hours of opening its doors at 5 a.m.
Saturday at the old Tolland High School, the first Connecticut Mission
of Mercy free dental clinic reached its capacity of approximately 750
people.
The clinic, which reopened for seven hours on Sunday, expected to have more than 1,000 people treated during the two-day event.
Approximately 1 to 1.5 million Connecticut residents do not have access to dental care because they don't have dental insurance.
- Carol Dingeldey, Executive Director of
the Connecticut State Dental Association
Once the clinic reached capacity over the two days, people who were still arriving had to be turned away.
"People
need dental care. Seeing the absolute need here surprised me," Dr. Gary
Dubin, a volunteer dentist, said Saturday. "It's not homeless people
walking in here. Nobody realizes that until they see this."
Carol
Dingeldey, executive director of the Connecticut State Dental
Association, said she arrived around 4:30 a.m. and saw approximately
400 people lined up outside the vacant old Tolland High School off Old
Cathole Road in Saturday's early morning rain and fog.
The average wait time varied per patient but most said around
noon on Saturday that they had been waiting since the clinic opened its
doors at 5 a.m.
"It was worth the wait," said David Henry, 25, of Hartford, who received a filling.
The
bleachers - divided into sections by specific procedures - in the
school's gymnasium turned clinic served as a patient waiting area. They
were filled with patients waiting for care while being serenaded by a
polka band. The band's music did little to hide the buzzing of
dentistry equipment behind blue curtains.
Dr. Ardell Wilson,
director of the Office of Oral Public Health for the state, toured the
clinic on Saturday and said the number of people in attendance was not
surprising. "I'm not surprised by the turnout. This is wonderful," she said.
Dingeldey
estimated that approximately 1 to 1.5 million Connecticut residents do
not have access to dental care because they don't have dental insurance.
"It's
mostly adults here and that's the trend because the state has a program
for kids," she said. "We've got people here who are fully employed but
in these times the first thing that goes is dental insurance."
The
clinic featured dental cleanings, extractions, and fillings performed
by more than 190 volunteer dentists. With only 60 to 65 chairs
available for dentists to work at, many volunteers said they had to
wait for a space to work on patients.
. . .
Read the Full Story . . . |
| Join Our List
|
|
|
|
|
