Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Missions' clinics provide needed care
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Mary Bishop
Bishop lives in Roanoke and is a retired newspaper reporter.
If you wondered what's happening to poor and working-class people in Southwest Virginia, the scene at the Roanoke Civic Center in early May spoke volumes.
People waited outside all night for a precious place in line at the Missions of Mercy free dental clinic. In two days, more than 1,100 people received care. At least 400 were turned away. By 6 a.m. each day, the marquee read "Clinic full."
Many people hadn't seen a dentist in decades. Teeth pulled: 1,900. Cavities filled: 482. Prescriptions written for pain medications and antibio- tics: 550. Value of the average patient's care: $410.
At the computers where volunteers like me registered people, patients kept their lips pulled over teeth pocked with decay. Many were in pain. Young women trembled in fear, knowing their rotten teeth must be pulled. Husbands and boyfriends comforted them all day until the ordeal was over. Most patients were from the Roanoke Valley, but some came from Richmond, Martinsville, Covington and even Nashville.
Decency abounded among patients and staff. A male patient brought a suitcase of balloons and spent hours blowing up animals and giving them away. People shuffled patiently from chair to chair for 10 hours or longer, waiting their turns for X-rays, extractions, fillings or cleanings.
"Something that never fails to amaze me," said Dr. Kris Enright, dental operations planner for the clinic and a public health dentist who volunteers at other dental clinics, "is how gracious and full of gratitude people are after spending the night in their car, waiting all day, and then having teeth removed."
Dental professionals from around the state donated their time to make this clinic happen through Southwest Virginia's Community Based Health Care Coalition. Patients were seen by more than 60 dentists, 40 hygienists, 74 dental assistants and 37 dental students from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Hundreds of other volunteers supervised by the American Red Cross made bag lunches for patients, collected trash and ushered people through the long lines. A flock of interpreters speaking several languages shepherded people through the process, often tracking several people at once. Emergency medical workers remained at the ready. The city of Roanoke provided the civic center, a value of $20,000, over days of preparation and the two-day clinic.
Dental care is available for poor children in Roanoke, but care for adults is severely limited. People working at least 20 hours a week get care at the Bradley Free Clinic, and a few lucky patients get help from local churches and health organizations that refer people to local dentists. But for the most part, disabled people, unemployed people and those on Medicaid have little recourse.
Only about half of Virginians have a regular dentist, says Dr. Terry Dickinson, executive director of the Virginia Dental Association and a national leader in dental care for the indigent. He estimates that 2 million Virginians lack dental insurance, twice as many as without medical insurance. Poor dental health contributes to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, premature and low-weight babies, and oral cancer.
Dickinson was instrumental in setting up the Roanoke clinic. His Missions of Mercy clinics around Virginia have become the national template for extending dental care to impoverished people. Last year, he and dental leaders from Texas, Kansas and North Carolina conducted what may have been the largest medical and dental health fair ever -- in New Orleans.
Over the last several years, M.O.M. clinics have given 22,000 people $9.3 million in free care in Grundy, Annandale, Norfolk, Martinsville and the Eastern Shore. But the queen of all M.O.M. clinics is in Wise. Begun in 2000, the Wise clinic now includes ob/gyn exams, immunizations, eye exams, lensmaking for glasses, custom dentures and a clothes closet.
Maybe Roanoke's clinic will be that big someday. Though the next one in Roanoke isn't scheduled yet, it's being discussed. "It can be as large and comprehensive as the community wants to make it," says Kris Enright.
No mission benefits people so immediately.
Volunteers, general and professional, are needed for the Wise Missions of Mercy., July 20-22, and the Grundy clinic., Oct. 13-14. Sign up at www.vadental.org, or call (804) 261-1610. Or make a donation to the Virginia Dental Health Foundation, 7525 Staples Mill Road, Richmond 23228.
