Outreach looking for volunteer dentists

ECCO emergency dental clinic hoping to help patients in pain

Lately, finding enough dentists to volunteer at East Cooper Community Outreach's emergency dental clinic has been like, well, pulling teeth.

Carol Clarkin, the outreach's dental clinic manager, said the pool of dentists she pulls from has been dwindling, and the staff is having to turn people away.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, patients with little money and no insurance and abscessed teeth pack into the outreach's waiting room on a first-come, first-served basis. The evening clinic opens at 5:30 p.m. for emergency visits, and patients come from miles around.

Clarkin said that at each clinic, she has to tell at least 10 people that they will have to come back next time.

So patients go to the emergency room for pain medication and antibiotics.

"There are no extractions in the emergency room," said Dr. Victor Del Bene, ECCO board president.

So they come back to the clinic trying for a better place in line next time.

Clarkin hopes to attract more volunteer dentists so she can open the clinic at least one more night a week. Retired dentist Bill Sasser does 40 percent of the work.

Extractions can be grueling work. It takes a lot of upper-body strength, and most of the volunteers already have seen a full day's worth of patients at their own practices.

During the first six months of 2008, more than 400 adult patients used the clinic, getting about $100,000 in free services.

The number of patients has increased since ECCO replaced its dingy dental trailer with a new facility in 2003.

"It's clean, bright and shiny," Clarkin said.

The outreach also added surgical hand tools so patients no longer have to be sent to the Medical University of South Carolina for difficult extractions.

In the six months Clarkin has worked for ECCO, she has discovered that malpractice insurance is also an issue.

The program recently found an insurance program that would cover liability for retired dentists who no longer practice but still have licenses.

"The waiting room is large, and the need is large," Clarkin said.

Reach Jessica Johnson at 937-5921 or jjohnson@postandcourier.com.

---

Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.

---

Comments

This article has  0 comment(s)