Dentist offers free care to poor Springfield students

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Getting children to go to the dentist is often like pulling teeth. But for John Chainey, who can't afford regular checkups for his children, Saturday's trip was easy.

"That extra $200 a month is hard to come by," said Chainey, a single father on disability. "It's just wrong that the kids have to suffer because I can't afford it."

David, 11, and Sarah, 9, had their teeth cleaned and worked on Saturday for free at the Parkcrest Dental Group, which had agreed to provide free cleanings, fillings, extractions and sealants to about 170 children in the Springfield School District.

Nine dentists, seven hygienists and numerous office personnel at Parkcrest Dental donated their time Saturday for the effort.

"Last spring we started talking about doing something in the community for children who didn't have the resources for proper dental care," said Parkcrest administrator Deanna Ford. "There are just a lot of dental needs out in the area."

Four children from each school in the district were chosen by that school's nurse to receive the free care, said district nursing supervisor Jean Grabeel.

Billie Layton brought her 8-year-old son, Jordan Tarrant, who was given a new toothbrush, toothpaste and some gum.

"I just got some cavities that got filled," Jordan said. "That didn't hurt too much."

Few with any coverage

Layton said she has had no luck finding dental care for her two sons, whose treatment would be covered by Medicaid, the government's health care program for the poor, blind and disabled. Children treated Saturday either had Medicaid or no coverage at all.

Grabeel said many dentists don't accept children on Medicaid.

"It's not that dentists don't want to see children on Medicaid," Grabeel said. "It's that they can't regularly incorporate a large number of them into their practice or they would begin to lose money."

For students who have dental emergencies, the Springfield Dental Society has an on-call list of dentists. More than 100 kids were referred to available dentists through that program last year, Grabeel said.