Connecticut’s First Free Dental Clinic Comes to Tolland
by Christine Stuart | April 7, 2008 2:26 PM
Posted to Health Care
The Connecticut Mission of Mercy will be holding its first free dental health care clinic this weekend and expects to serve between 750 to 1,000 people that lack access to dental care.
It’s estimated that 1 million to 1.5 million Connecticut residents lack access to dental care, Dr. Robert Schreibman said Monday. He said he expects people will start lining up outside the former Tolland High School at midnight Saturday for the first ever Connecticut Mission of Mercy free dental clinic.
Schreibman said he doesn’t doubt that people will cross the border from neighboring states to get in line. He said people will be seen on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The 190 dentists and more than 90 dental hygienist volunteers will be cleaning teeth, filling cavities, and even extracting teeth on Saturday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 5 a.m. to noon, he said. Equipment for the event is being transported from Kansas and Nebraska, and is expected to arrive the day before the event. Schreibman said the organization is trying to raise $500,000 to buy their its equipment to hold another free clinic next year in New Haven.
“We’d like to treat everybody who shows up,” Schreibman said.
Dr. Brian Duchan, president of the Connecticut State Dental Association, said, dentists across the state step up every day to offer dental care to patients who can”t afford it. He said that while he appreciates dentists volunteering their time this weekend, he would like people to remember that “charity is not a health care system.”
Speaker of the House James Amann, D-Milford, said only one-third of the children enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, known as HUSKY, receive dental care. Last year was the first time since 1993 that the state increased reimbursements to dentists who see children in the HUSKY program, he said.
Amann said he knows the free clinic is not going to solve the problem, but “it’s a way to shed some light on the issue.”
Sen. President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, said this “should be a wake up call for us here in the state.” He said there is only one dentist in Windham County that accepts the state’s HUSKY insurance. He said Tolland, like many communities in his adjacent Windham County, is a rural part of the state where there’s not many dentists or doctors. He said he hopes this weekend’s event leads to a bigger conversation about universal health care.
Last year, the universal health care debate was put on hold after the release of an Office of Fiscal Analysis report that first said, after stating, “a determination of the fiscal impact of the bill is not possible,” but also estimated a single-payer health care system would cost the state between $11 and $18 billion over two years. Health care advocates say the report was misleading because the state already spends between $15 and $22 billion on health care.
Advocates said that in addition to being misleading, the report did not include the cost savings the state would incur under the system.
For more information about the free dental clinic this weekend, please visit the Connecticut State Dental Association Web site, or call the state’s info line at 211.
Comments (8)
Posted by: Jayne | April 7, 2008 9:32 PM
It appears Senator Williams could use a geography or civics lesson on Connecticut. Tolland is not one of the communities in Windham County - it's actually in Tolland County. It's fortunate he won't be one of the dentists volunteering his time this weekend - he might be confused about which part of the anatomy needs attention.
Posted by: christine | April 8, 2008 7:10 AM
Jayne,
The word adjacent accidentally got deleted in the editing process. Sen. Williams most certainly knows Tolland is in Tolland County not Windham County.
Posted by: Steven G. Erickson | April 8, 2008 3:01 PM
There are more and more divorced fathers that have no home, no insurance, and almost all their pay goes to alimony and child support.
Should are teeth fall out too?
This is at least something positive in Connecticut.
Too many fathers are living on couches or crashing out here and there, just to get by after being fleeced, ruined, and demoralized in a Connecticut kangaroo court.
http://thegetjusticecoalition.blogspot.com/
Posted by: reggie | April 10, 2008 8:28 AM
As a divorced mom whose husband did not pay child support, I understand the above dad. I was fortunate to have Husky to help my kids, but my teeth were put on hold. I am not sure what the current average wage in CT is, but mine at $8/hour will not pay for health or dental care. It is hard to justify a person making $8/hr to pay $100 a week for health insurance which usually does not cover the $185 fee for an average CT dentist to fill a cavity in 1/2 hour!
I read above that they expect to have lines at midnight the day before this upcoming clinic, with 1000 people expected, it seems like I will have a long wait... or be turned away?
The next clinic to be next year in New Haven? The Waterbury clinic has a year and a half waiting list.
Dogs get more media coverage for neglect, but what are the "poor" to do?
I hope the media going to be there to cover this.
Its kind of humiliating and embarassing for us to ask for lower fees. I will bring my sleeping bag.
Posted by: Doug | April 10, 2008 12:26 PM
Reggie,
That's a great comment. Maybe the word is beginning to get out. 60 Minutes did a report a few weeks ago on a charitable health organization that provides free medical care every so often. They had to turn people away. That report is fairly heart-wrenching and definitely worth watching if you've got a high-speed connection. The event in Tolland obviously is concentrated on dental care, but the group offering the services is similar to the one in the 60 Minutes report.
Good luck. Things are bound to get better sometime after November.
Posted by: Reggie | April 10, 2008 7:46 PM
Would it not have been easier for dentists and poor people to just have a one day a year free clinic at their own practice locations to those uninsured? No dentists would have to drive miles to set up the day before, bringing lots of equipment, and poor folks wouldnt have to drive miles to one spot in CT. Dentists and helpers would have been able to go to a volunteer dentist in their own town.
Or, perhaps these dentists would make it too easy for the poor and would be overwelmed.
It would be like a library amnesty day. I dont mean to sound ungrateful, but insurance, dental and health, are way out of control. I dont blame the doctors, I blame insurance and drug companies. And the people in charge of things that have no idea how the other half lives...perhaps.
Reggie
Posted by: stephen thompson | April 13, 2008 6:06 PM
I would like to thank the state for providing this service. After being laid off two times in the last year, I needed dental care. I was surpised how many like me from all walks of life, were in need . Thank you so much Dr. Schreibman for organizing this event!
Posted by: Robert Grossman | April 16, 2008 5:21 PM
i need full set of dentures i have health net ruby 1 medicare part a,b'& d and the connect card i own nothing and have no bank accounts thank you for your time
Bob