I can't imagine much worse pain than what a bad tooth can bring. I've had my share over the decades while wishing I'd done a better job of caring for my only set of chompers.
Teeth become downright necessary when a person ages sufficiently to realize one of life's remaining joys is the ability to effectively chew a meal.
So I was pleased to see the Boston Mountain Rural Health Center, with 11 medical and four dental clinics situated throughout medically underserved areas in northwest and north central Arkansas, adding a mobile dental clinic.
The center's fixed dental services are in Yellville, Huntsville, Jasper and Clinton. That leaves a large number of underserved Arkansans.
I've read at least 60 percent of our dentists practice in fewer than 10 counties. "As a result, we have areas of the state where you will have fewer numbers of dental providers," Dr. Lindy Bollen, DDS, director of the Office of Oral Health at the Arkansas Department of Health, was quoted as saying.
So many of the rural residents in these hills have very limited, if any, access to professional dental care either because it doesn't exist, they lack transportation, or they feel they can't afford it.
Several other worthy agencies and institutions statewide already have moved to fill the enormous need using mobile clinics that travel to places such as schools and nursing homes where the needs for dental care are constant.
So when Debbie Ackerson, the capable CEO of the centers recently decided, along with the center's Dental Health Director Dr. C.W. Dill, DDS, to acquire its own mobile clinic van staffed by a dentist, hygienist and assistant (as a contribution from Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville), it was a move designed to benefit thousands of rural patients that otherwise might not be helped.
"We're excited about what this new service will offer to so many in need today," said Ackerson.
Dill said another key executive who helped make the mobile clinic a reality has been the dental operations officer, Nicole DePriest. "She truly is invaluable," he said.
Today, the center parks its mobile van in Green Forest where employees of Tyson and others in and around Green Forest are being seen by Dr. Gary Guthrie and his staff of Elaine Glass and Stephanie Hayes at the rate of some 16 a day.
The larger plan, Dill said, is for the mobile clinic to roam wherever needed amid the smaller towns, schools and rural areas of northern Arkansas. "Eventually, we want to go wherever in our service area we are needed to help everyone, ranging from individual citizens to communities, employees of factories and other businesses. We soon will be visiting in these areas to determine where those locations might be."
Prices for X-rays, cleanings and other routine dental care such as fillings and extractions (no dentures or involved procedures such as root canals) are significantly discounted.
The mobile clinic also accepts Medicaid up to an annual limit of $500, and insurance, as well as private pay based on a sliding scale. "Our objective is to keep the service affordable and available to everyone in the service area," Dill said. Children of Medicaid recipients are treated at no charge or the Medicaid limit within federal poverty guidelines.
Dill, the most recent outgoing president of the state's Board of Dental Examiners, said the biggest challenge has been coping with an environment where 30 to 40 percent of the patients who make appointments fail to show up.
I've always found it ironic that, while trips to the dentist aren't listed among most folks' favorite experience, the care is critical to relieving agony as well as the precious ability to maintain health and continue to eat normally throughout a lifetime.
That's certainly the philosophy of my own caring dentist, Dr. Derrick Johnson of Bentonville, who aptly named his practice Integrated Dentistry to denote the vital (and often unheralded) role teeth play in overall well-being.
Boston Mountain Rural Health's mobile clinic is a welcome and needed addition to dental care in these majestic Ozarks. And I suspect it won't be that long before word of its availability gets out, meaning the van won't remain parked in Green Forest that much longer.
I've long been a fan and supporter of the center since it organized in 1994. Today, through the fixed dental treatment offices and medical clinics it provides, many areas of need are serviced.
Boston Mountain Rural Health Center, from its inception, has offered a wide range of services for insured, uninsured, and underinsured patients across Searcy, Van Buren, Madison, Newton, Carroll, Marion, Stone, Boone, and Conway counties, regardless of ability to pay. They also have assistance programs to help obtain medicine at an affordable price.
Perhaps you can see why I find this nonprofit organization and its new mobile dental office such a blessing to so many who call this region of Arkansas their home.
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.
------------v------------
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 02/04/2020