Volunteer dentists and hygienists at the Community Dental Clinic in Clearwater, Fla., are helping uninsured patients avoid emergency room visits for dental problems by encouraging dental education and follow-up visits, according to a Tampa Bay Times report.
The number of patients who visit ERs with dental-related issues increased from 1.1 million in 2000 to 2.1 million in 2010, and this number is continuing to rise, according to the American Dental Association. However, as many as 1.65 million ER visits a year could be better treated at dental clinics.
The Salvation Army teamed up with the Arc of Tampa Bay in Clearwater to launch the city's Community Dental Clinic, which provides access to routine dental services for adults 18 and older who live in Largo, Fla., and Tarpon Springs, Fla. The clinic typically serves low-income patients, who must prove they are uninsured or underinsured.
The clinic is already booked for appointments through April, Pamela Iusi, executive director of the clinic told the Tampa Bay Times. "If [patients] don't qualify for dental insurance, oftentimes people don't have a lot of places to go other than the ER," Ms. Iusi said. "And that can be incredibly expensive."
The clinic aims to educate patients on practicing good dental health to stop treating a high number of dental emergencies. "A lot of these people have never had any education into how to take care of their teeth," George Kostakis, DDS, a volunteer at the Community Dental Clinic and member of the nonprofit's board of directors, told the Tampa Bay Times. "It's always been a reactive practice, not proactive. That's what we're trying to change."