1,000 expected at free 2-day dental clinic at CCRI

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 5/26/15

Although many may not realize it, oral health is crucial in overall health.

To ensure that even Rhode Islanders, who may not be able to afford dental care, have their oral hygiene concerns …

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1,000 expected at free 2-day dental clinic at CCRI

Posted

Although many may not realize it, oral health is crucial in overall health.

To ensure that even Rhode Islanders, who may not be able to afford dental care, have their oral hygiene concerns addressed, the 4th Annual Mission of Mercy free dental clinic will be hosted at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

More than 600 volunteers made up of professional dentists, hygienists and community members will see upwards of 1,000 patients, performing routine cleanings, x-rays, extractions and, for those who get there early enough on the first day, personalized dentures during the two-day event, May 30 and 31.

Dr. Marty Nager, a Warwick dentist who has volunteered his services for the last few Mission of Mercy events, said for those who can’t afford dental care there are very few options for treatment.

“There aren’t dental chairs ready and waiting in a hospital or emergency room. If you go there oftentimes they have no way of treating the issue,” Nager said. “Only a dentist can do a dentist’s work.”

Nager, who is the president of Donated Dental Services, another “dental give back program,” said what most people wouldn’t realize is that many dentists are very charitable knowing that not everyone can afford “ideal treatment.”

Dr. Jeffrey Dodge, who volunteered at Mission of Mercy events in Connecticut before helping to organize them in Rhode Island, said some people arrive hours before the clinic opens. Registration includes a medical screening to identify the most urgent cases.

Both Nager and Dodge said that the majority of cases the dentists at the Mission of Mercy see are infections of the tooth and gums, which leads to a lot of extractions. These infections can be life threatening at times.

“The mouth is the gateway to the whole body; if something gets in it has access to affect the rest of the body,” Dodge said.

Nager explained there are millions of bacteria in our mouths, good and bad, and if left unchecked can lead to various other life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks, stroke, chronic infections and others. He said that an autopsy of patients who died of a heart attack or stroke, mouth bacteria was found in the heart and brain.

“Without oral health there is no health,” Nager said, urging people to visit the free event.

Dodge said that although the event does improve the health of patients, it also has a greater impact on their whole lives. He said as a society we tend to “judge a book by its cover,” and someone’s teeth are one of the first places people look. He said people with broken or missing teeth are reluctant to smile or interact with others, whether for interviews or just to see friends and family.

Dodge said, “It is great to see when we fix people’s teeth they smile for the first time in a while and you can just see them change.”

The 4th Annual Mission of Mercy free dental clinic will be on May 30 and 31 at CCRI’s Flanagan Campus in Lincoln. Doors will open at 6 a.m. There will be upwards of 10 dental chairs dedicated to tooth extractions for the two days. For more information visit www.rimom.org.

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