Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Emergency dental care for poor and people with no insurance in Benton County will be available starting Tuesday.
Housed in the Samaritan Community Center at 1211 W. Hudson Road, the Samaritan Dental Clinic will be staffed by the volunteer dentists and other health professionals. The initial hours will be Tuesday evenings from 5 to 8, and participants must meet with a Samaritan social worker before scheduling a dental appointment.
Debbie Rambo, director of the center, said volunteers spent nearly half a year transforming two bathrooms into two dental offices, complete with exam chairs and and an X-ray machine, which were donated. The offices passed inspections Thursday, and four patients are scheduled for the clinic's first day, Rambo said.
Dr. Jill Pike will coordinate the clinic, and Rambo said five other dentists have show interest in volunteering. The clinic hours may include afternoons once more volunteers add their services. For now, the clinic will only accept patients who have oral infections or need teeth pulled. Restorative services, such as filling cavities, may be available as the clinic grows. "It's just needed period in this area," said Pike, who sees patients in Bentonville and Anderson, Mo., and has been on dental missions to Mexico.
Pike said she expects the number of volunteer dentists to swell in coming weeks. For now, she said, the clinic's goal is to get people out of pain and then address their spiritual needs. "I just want to give God all the glory for this. He's the one that's making this all come together," Pike said.
Housed in the Samaritan Community Center at 1211 W. Hudson Road, the Samaritan Dental Clinic will be staffed by the volunteer dentists and other health professionals. The initial hours will be Tuesday evenings from 5 to 8, and participants must meet with a Samaritan social worker before scheduling a dental appointment.
Debbie Rambo, director of the center, said volunteers spent nearly half a year transforming two bathrooms into two dental offices, complete with exam chairs and and an X-ray machine, which were donated. The offices passed inspections Thursday, and four patients are scheduled for the clinic's first day, Rambo said.
Dr. Jill Pike will coordinate the clinic, and Rambo said five other dentists have show interest in volunteering. The clinic hours may include afternoons once more volunteers add their services. For now, the clinic will only accept patients who have oral infections or need teeth pulled. Restorative services, such as filling cavities, may be available as the clinic grows. "It's just needed period in this area," said Pike, who sees patients in Bentonville and Anderson, Mo., and has been on dental missions to Mexico.
Pike said she expects the number of volunteer dentists to swell in coming weeks. For now, she said, the clinic's goal is to get people out of pain and then address their spiritual needs. "I just want to give God all the glory for this. He's the one that's making this all come together," Pike said.
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