Filling the gaps in dental care

May 25, 2009

The waiting room of a dental clinic for the uninsured is filled with stories of just how bad a toothache can get.

Juleah Best buys temporary fillings at a drugstore to relieve a decaying tooth.

The word "temporary" aptly describes them.

"Every time I inhale, it hurts my top and bottom jaw, clear up to my temple," said Best, a 29-year-old single mother who hasn't been to the dentist in more than a decade.

Marchia Dolbow, 51, won't drink anything cold for fear of aggravating exposed nerves in her mouth. The physical pain isn't the worst thing, though; it's the ache of how she looks with only seven teeth in her mouth.

"I have been turned down for jobs I knew I qualified for, but because of my appearance, they say, 'I'm sorry, we're not hiring.' "

The Beach women were among 26 people who showed up in mid-May for the Beach Health Clinic's first free dental clinic.

The dental services were a collaborative effort that involved volunteer dentists, the Navy, Old Dominion University, funding from foundations and companies, and the Beach Health Clinic, which serves the uninsured of Virginia Beach.

Dental care is a gaping hole for the uninsured in Hampton Roads, according to a community health survey commissioned by Sentara Healthcare five years ago. Community health professionals tagged dental care as one of the top medical services the uninsured had trouble finding, even higher than prescriptions and mental health care.

They often turn to emergency rooms instead. During a one-year period starting in 2003, there were 1,577 cases of uninsured people showing up in Sentara hospital emergency rooms with problems that would have been better treated in a dental office.

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Today's Healthy Child: Orthodontics For Kids

Posted By: Carol Phillips 12 days ago

Every child has some sort of orthodontic need during their childhood years. It's important that those needs are addressed at an early age.

Orthodontist Dr. Kirt Simmons says most orthodontists suggest scheduling your child's first appointment around the age of 7.

"That's an age at which typically the first permanent molars in the back are already in and they're starting to what we call switch from baby to grown up teeth."

He says the first appointment will be mostly a consultation.

"Typically, the orthodontist will examine your child. They'll tell you what particular problems they see, what the consequences of those problems may or may not be, and they'll recommend some treatment, times and options."

And he says kids shouldn't be afraid. "Typically, we would just use a dental mirror; we don't use anything sharp or pokey, there's no shots or anything like that, actually no bad taste, other than sometimes the gloves don't taste particularly wonderful. And that's typically all and it's usually a relatively a short appointment."

Simmons says orthodontic problems can sometimes be genetic or often a result from sucking their fingers or thumb.

"That causes a problem where they can't bite right in the middle and causes them to have to slide their jaw one direction or the other. That should be treated fairly early because if a child always postures off to the same side their jaw can actually grow kind of crooked," he explains. "And an easy way to kind of look for that is the line between the middle of the top and bottom teeth should line up when your child bites together. If that's off, then that may indicate that that's a problem."

Dr. Bryan Burke says the earlier age a problem is found, the easier, faster and less expensive it can be to treat. He encourages parents to get their child in to see their dentist by at least age 2, and to ask their child's dentist when he thinks it's time for a visit to the orthodontist.

Source: Today's Healthy Child: Orthodontics For Kids

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