Dentists treat miles of smiles
Saturday, June 18, 2011 by Admin
Amy O'Bryan woke up at 4a.m. yesterday to get to the office of Dr.Brian Kvitko early. She badly needed a tooth extraction. O'Bryan , a 35-year-old Columbus resident , hadn't visited a dentist in 20 years, and a wisdom tooth had been bothering her for 10 of them. The corporate-cafeteria worker, lacking dental insurance , went without help until yesterday.
From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Clintonville neighborhood, several area dentists each volunteered a few hours to perform free cleanings, fillings and extractions for those in need as part of an event sponsored by Dr. Kvitko, Metnes & Associates.
The effort marks one of many throughout central Ohio aimed at providing access to dental care for the needy, said Denise Haring, the president of the Columbus Dental Society and a Reynoldsburg dentist. O'Bryan, who took the day off from work for the procedure, feared that it would hurt but showed up anyway.
"I can tell the people here care, even though we don't know each other," she said. "I'm just glad someone cares enough to do this. "The event was affiliated with Dentistry From the Heart, a nonprofit group based in Florida that helps arrange similar efforts. Kvitko and his co-workers learned about the initiative at a November conference.
By 7:30 a.m. yesterday, about 150 people had signed up for services. (The organizers hoped to treat at least 526 people - to set a record among Dentistry From the Heart events.)
"Most people will tell you they don't like going to the dentist," said Kvitko, who donated dental work to Ted Williams, the one-time homeless man with the "golden voice" who drew international attention.
"But today is a day where everyone wants to be here and will even wait for a few hours."
Although volunteers didn't arrive until 6 a.m., a security guard began giving out wristbands at 3:30. The first person in line had shown up around midnight.
Connie Fix found 30 people ahead of her at 5:30. Not having seen a dentist in four years, the West Side resident, 44, needed a cleaning and some fillings.
At 8 a.m., with her teeth clean, she had to re-register and go to the back of the line for the fillings. She would have to wait a couple of hours, she was told, but she didn't mind.
"I brought a book," Fix said, "and I don't have to be at work until 4."
Many people sat outside in folding chairs or on a nearby curb awaiting a turn indoors. Music played from speakers in the parking lot, while volunteers sold food and coffee.
Representatives from the Ohio Benefit Bank were available to talk about opportunities for free or reduced-cost health care and other services. Next door, in a vacant lot, a blood drive was under way.
The Ohio State University Dental H.O.M.E. Coach, a full-service mobile office for children, was on-site to take care of youngsters.
Julie Hedrick, 33, of Westerville accompanied her two children.
With 3-year-old daughter Ava, who was having her first cleaning, she read a Dora the Explorer book about a dentist to prepare the girl for the visit.
"Getting the kids done today is such a great opportunity," Hedrick said. "We're self-employed, and I called a dentist's office the other day, and it would have cost $500 for both my kids to get cleanings."
The free services didn't stop with the dental work: Prescriptions for post-
procedure pain medications were filled free, and free repairs were made to dentures.
Such access to dental care, Kvitko said, is considered important, but a single cleaning or other procedure doesn't solve the larger problem: About 45million Americans have no dental insurance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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