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UK Against Fluoridation

Monday, June 30, 2008

USA - Easing W.Va.'s Ache for Care

Easing W.Va.'s Ache for Care
Volunteer Dentists Treat More Than 1,100 in Two-Day Event

Patients get dental work done in the gym of Hedgesville High School in Berkeley County, W.Va., which an army of 700 volunteers turned into a free clinic. The two-day effort was staffed by 50 volunteer dentists and funded by a local philanthropist. (Photo: Ricky Carioti/Post)
By Ben Hubbard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 29, 2008; Page C07

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va., June 28 -- Some came with cracked teeth. Others described theirs as rotten. One man chipped his while eating ice. Another -- improbably -- while eating a cheeseburger.

"I thought there was a piece of bread caught in my teeth," said Jeff Coonrod, 37, of Charles Town, W.Va. "So I tried to get it out, and there was nothing there."

Most hadn't been to the dentist in at least five years. All cited the same reasons: too expensive, no dental insurance, ignored it until it hurt.

Through a free dental clinic organized by the United Way and the Virginia Dental Association, all they needed to get care in this small town 90 miles northwest of the District was a little patience.

More than 300 were in line when Berkeley County's Hedgesville High School opened at 6 a.m. Saturday for the second and final day of the Mission of Mercy. Some had waited since midnight. Others had had teeth pulled or repaired the day before and had come back for more work. More than 1,100 people were treated during the two days, said Terry Dickinson, executive director of the Virginia Dental Association. An army of 700 volunteers from Berkeley and the surrounding counties transformed the high school into a MASH-like dental facility.

Nurses took vital signs by hallway lockers. Dentistry students in the school's trophy-adorned foyer poked about in patients' mouths and sent them off for X-rays, repair work or dreaded extractions.

Such was the lot of 29-year-old Mike Waugh of nearby Berkeley Springs, W.Va. Sitting under a basketball hoop on the edge of the gym floor, crowded with 50 volunteer dentists, their assistants and tools, he talked about the four teeth he thought he was about to lose.

"On a pain scale from one to 10, the past couple of nights have been a 10," he said. In the past, he'd broken his leg, his hand and his finger, but none, he said, hurt as much as his teeth.
"It's unbearable," he said. "Your leg, you can prop it up. You can't prop your mouth up."
Waugh's work as a self-employed floorer supports his wife and four children, he said, but doesn't bring in enough for health insurance, much less dental care. His wife earns $8 an hour in day care. She, too, gets no benefits.
A volunteer escorted him to a chair. The dentist looked at his folder and said he'd pull four teeth. Waugh leaned back and opened wide. The dentist reached for the forceps. ............................

Virginia is 95% fluoridated
West Virginia is 91% fluoridated: NYSCOF

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