Elks Club provides funding for mobile dental clinic

Maybe they're better known for their fish dinners, chili suppers or pancake breakfasts, but several civic clubs in Southeast Missouri are helping provide better health care for their neighbors at home and abroad.

Whether it's a Lions Club program to provide eyeglasses in developing nations or a Rotary drive to eradicate polio around the world, civic clubs are making some great strides in the health-care arena.

Many of the people who visit the Elks' mobile dental unit wouldn't get any dental care otherwise, said Cindy Smith, dental assistant.

The mobile unit will be in Cape Girardeau through Aug. 21 before heading to Sikeston and Poplar Bluff.

And with a declining budget for federal and state health-care programs, the donations and volunteers from Elks' lodges are keeping the dental program running. Smith schedules appointments for the dental unit which covers the eastern portion of the state. There are three dental units in all, and each one circulates around a specific territory to serve patients all year.

Many times, the dentist with the mobile unit is the only person who will see these patients, said Dr. Erin Luker.

Finding a dentist who takes Medicaid is nearly impossible, and many dentists won't take the time necessary to treat a developmentally challenged or disabled patient.

But mobile dental units have served the mentally challenged and developmentally disabled adults and children since 1962. All the equipment was purchased with donations from Elks through pledges, gifts and a benevolence fund.

In an average year, the services amount to nearly $500,000 worth of free dental work.

Margaret Stroup and her 25-year-old son, Jerry, traveled from Hillsboro, Mo., to visit the dental clinic in Cape Girardeau. Jerry has been treated by the clinic ever since he was a small child, his mother said.

During his visit Monday afternoon, he asked the dentist to pull a loose tooth that had broken off.

Handles most procedures

After sitting still for an X-ray, Luker determined that Jerry needed to see an oral surgeon. While the mobile unit can handle most any procedure, pulling out Jerry's wisdom tooth wasn't possible since it requires sedation.

The dental unit typically does exams, cleaning, sealing or adding crowns to teeth and removing infected or painful teeth but only with a local anesthetic.

The RV houses everything that you'd find in any other dental office, except that it's a little smaller and more mobile.

Luker can see only one patient at a time since there's limited space, and the waiting area includes one small seat near the driver's and passenger's seats at the front.

Luker likes that she can spend plenty of time with each patient.

"No one cares how many patients I see in a week," she said.

She's not pressured to meet the patient management quotas that other dentists have to tackle.

"I don't have just 15 minutes to do a cleaning and an exam," she said.

So if it takes 20 minutes to coax a patient into a chair, that's what it takes.

"We explain what we're going to do and what the brush feels like," Smith said.

Taking that time with a patient can help them feel more comfortable and make the procedure go smoother, Luker said.

Luker likes the program because it gives her a chance to focus on patient care and not worry about other incidental things.

"It's more challenging and more rewarding," she said.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126