Free health care was provided to anyone in the living without insurance at Adam's dental clinic last Saturday.
Extractions, fillings, check-ups and cleanings were some of the services that were offered free of charge throughout the day as the waiting room was filled shortly after the clinic's doors opened first thing in the morning.
However, the clinic stated while the emergency services were provided the day was about more than just fixing dental problems that had already developed.
“Sometimes people think they can't afford it because they think it costs a lot, so it's a good day just to bring people in to break that barrier for people that haven't seen the dentist in a while,” said Vik Sharma, a dentist at the clinic.
Sharma said there needs to be more education surrounding routine dental care and that even if you are living without insurance and can't afford regular check-ups with a dentist, there is still a lot that can be done to preserve your oral health.
“A lot of dentistry is preventative,” said Sharma, “It's the regular maintenance that can solve a lot of problems, kind of like if you have a car, you would change the oil every six months to insure that it lasts a long time before a big problem occurs.”
For Patrick Peers, a patient who attended the free dental clinic, that education that regular maintenance can go a long way had already began to sink in before his check-up had begun.
Peers said while the clinic was the first time in a long time that he actually saw a dentist, he was well aware he would need to come back in the future .
“As far as health care, this is probably the first of many future check-ups,” said Peers. “People that don’t have any insurance can develop tooth pain. So on days like this they can come in and while they may not get everything taken care of, they can get the number one issues that are hurting them taken care of.”
Saturday’s clinic was not the first free dental care day in the city, Adam’s has previously held a free clinic last April and Birchwood Dental offered their services free of charge in January.
Adam’s employees said they hoped to turn these clinics into a bi-annual event.