Free dental clinic serves hundreds on opening day

JOE SHEARER/WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE
Susan Steinlicht, a dental hygienist with Plaza Dental Group in Des Moines, cleans a patient's teeth during Iowa Mission of Mercy, a two-day oral health clinic operated by dental professionals who donate their time to provide care to people with limited access to dental services, at the Mid-America Center yesterday. The Iowa Dental Foundation-sponsored event runs from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.


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POSTED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015 8:54 AM | UPDATED: 11:58 AM, SAT SEP 12, 2015.
By Tim Johnson / World-Herald news service

About 475 people received 2,761 free dental services valued at $335,700 Friday during the first day of the Iowa Mission of Mercy, according to preliminary figures from Lisa Russell, public relations representative for the Iowa Dental Foundation, which sponsors the event.

The large-scale dental clinic continues from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Mid-America Center, 1 Arena Way. There are no restrictions based on income or insurance.

More than 200 people were waiting in line when the clinic opened at 6 a.m. Friday, Russell said.

“When I got here this morning – I got here around 5 – there was a line about three-quarters of the way around the MAC,” said Cary Jackson, dentist from Broadway Family & Cosmetic Dentistry. “Every chair that had a dentist was full pretty much the whole morning.”

FULL story at link.



JOE SHEARER/WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE

Erika Butts, left, and Katelyn Collman, students in the Iowa Western Community College dental hygiene program, clean a patient's teeth during Iowa Mission of Mercy, a two-day oral health clinic operated by dental professionals who donate their time to provide care to people with limited access to dental services, at the Mid-America Center yesterday. The Iowa Dental Foundation-sponsored event runs from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.