Monday, May 01, 2006
Austin Ross hopped from the chair, the drilling and then scraping at an end.
"It didn't hurt that much - except for the needle," the 9-year-old said of the visit to the dentist.
It will really hurt his parents - who, like millions of Americans, have no dental insurance - had Saturday not been "Smile-a-bration," a day of free dental work for 2,700 uninsured children in Colorado.
About 450 kids in the Pikes Peak region received free care from 14 dentists. It was organized by Delta Dental Plan of Colorado.
The dental benefits network started the event four years ago in response to the growing number of children without
"We see an awful lot of kids who have never seen a dentist before they come in for Smile-a-bration," said Kate Paul, CEO of Delta Dental.
Austin's mother, Heather Ross, said the family had dental insurance until six months ago, when her husband left the Army.
The cost of dental insurance at his new job is too high for the family of five.
"It's just too expensive," Ross said. "Our last visit we paid out of pocket and luckily they had no cavities."
She had to spend two hours on hold on the phone to arrange Saturday's appointment, after her kids received notices of the free care through school. Every treatment slot in Colorado eventually was filled.
Dentist Nelly Barreto, of Perfect Teeth on Constitution Avenue, had 22 patients signed up for free care Saturday.
"We know they need some work, almost all of them," Barreto said. "We'll try to figure out where it most hurts."
"We're barely making it. The money I make covers the rent and sometimes the utilities," she said. "There are a lot of people out there having a hard time."
Despite his lackadaisical brushing, the only work Adam needed was having a spacer removed.
But it still hurt, and asked afterwards if he liked the visit, he replied, "Not really."
Among kids, the reaction is not unusual. But, said Barreto, "They'll appreciate it later"
"It didn't hurt that much - except for the needle," the 9-year-old said of the visit to the dentist.
It will really hurt his parents - who, like millions of Americans, have no dental insurance - had Saturday not been "Smile-a-bration," a day of free dental work for 2,700 uninsured children in Colorado.
About 450 kids in the Pikes Peak region received free care from 14 dentists. It was organized by Delta Dental Plan of Colorado.
The dental benefits network started the event four years ago in response to the growing number of children without
"We see an awful lot of kids who have never seen a dentist before they come in for Smile-a-bration," said Kate Paul, CEO of Delta Dental.
Austin's mother, Heather Ross, said the family had dental insurance until six months ago, when her husband left the Army.
The cost of dental insurance at his new job is too high for the family of five.
"It's just too expensive," Ross said. "Our last visit we paid out of pocket and luckily they had no cavities."
She had to spend two hours on hold on the phone to arrange Saturday's appointment, after her kids received notices of the free care through school. Every treatment slot in Colorado eventually was filled.
Dentist Nelly Barreto, of Perfect Teeth on Constitution Avenue, had 22 patients signed up for free care Saturday.
"We know they need some work, almost all of them," Barreto said. "We'll try to figure out where it most hurts."
"We're barely making it. The money I make covers the rent and sometimes the utilities," she said. "There are a lot of people out there having a hard time."
Despite his lackadaisical brushing, the only work Adam needed was having a spacer removed.
But it still hurt, and asked afterwards if he liked the visit, he replied, "Not really."
Among kids, the reaction is not unusual. But, said Barreto, "They'll appreciate it later"
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