Hundreds turn out for dental care at Show Me Center

Despite inclement weather, the Missouri Mission of Mercy free dental clinic met its high expectations for patient and volunteer attendance.

Event officials estimated volunteer turnout to be around 1,100, right on target with the clinic's needs for efficient operation. Officials and volunteers estimated they served about 1,775 people by the end of Saturday.

About noon Friday, the clinic hit capacity and closed the front doors of the Show Me Center, where it had set up 100 dental chairs to serve patients. Spokeswoman Brandy Barker said closing the doors did not mean they were no longer open for care.

"We typically stay open until 5 p.m.," Barker said. "We may have had to close the doors at noon but we're still moving the people inside through the process, which we have estimated will take until about 5 p.m. to finish."

That "process" involved registering patients, giving them a basic screening to determine their most urgent dental-care needs and sorting them into the three categories of service -- cleaning, filling and extraction. The goal was to move people through the process as quickly as possible to have them out of the rain, said Paul Roberts, director of advocacy and outreach of the Missouri Dental Association, which co-sponsors Missouri Mission of Mercy with the Missouri Dental Association Foundation.

Volunteers work on patients at the Missouri Mission of Mercy free dental clinic Friday at the Show Me Center. Sponsored by the Missouri Dental Association and the Missouri Dental Association Foundation, the two-day clinic offered services such as cleanings, extractions and fillings. (ADAM VOGLER)

Compared to its last clinic, which was in 2011 in Springfield, Mo., Roberts said they are "right on pace" as far as the number of services provided to patients. He guessed that extractions and fillings made up the majority of requested dental services for the clinic's first day.

"Everyone needs so much and we just try to figure out what needs to be done first," he said. "You may not think it's your most pressing need, but a good cleaning can go a long way to maintaining good overall health."

On Friday, Roberts said he hoped to see more children attend the clinic Saturday since school would not be in session.

On Saturday night, Barker said there were "significantly more children" the second day of the clinic.

In an email Saturday night, Barker said preliminary estimates showed 2,600 extractions, 1,165 fillings and 630 cleanings, with about $962,000 in care. She said final numbers would not be a available until today or Monday.

Leo Simpson and Deja Wadlow were two of the many patients sitting in the waiting area for fillings. Both have lost their jobs and said they could no longer afford health insurance.

"I never would have been able to afford to have this done otherwise," Simpson said.

Wadlow agreed, saying she was impressed by the work of clinic volunteers.

"Everyone has been very, very helpful," she said. "It was definitely worth the wait. If I didn't have this done, I would've had to have teeth pulled and I didn't want to do that. I want to save my teeth and now I can."

In the volunteer break room, set up near the Show Me Center concession stands, a wall was covered in thank-you notes written by patients.

"I had my tooth extracted with no pain whatsoever. I appreciate all the volunteers," one said.

"The 14 hour wait was well worth it," said another.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

1333 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.