Free clinic opens its doors to patients in Maine
The Biddeford Dental Wellness Center has finally opened its doors to patients after more than two years of fundraising and planning.
The Center will offer free clinics to residents in the area that do not have dental insurance and consequently cannot afford treatment. The Center will run in conjunction with the Biddeford Free Clinic.
A team of volunteers has been working tirelessly over the last two years to raise money to open the clinic and staff say the services will make a huge impac
t on the local community. Jay Beauchemin, the director of the Dental Wellness Center, says that the clinic will offer help to those who have neglected their oral health as a result of rising dental costs and a lack of insurance. Clinics like this are often the only opportunity for patients without healthcare insurance to get the treatment they need.
Now, the clinic is up and running and staff have been overwhelmed at the support in the community; over 80 volunteers have come forward to offer their help, which will make the running of the center much easier. The clinic is open twice a month; to get an appointment, patients must first register with the Biddeford Free Clinic.
Some of the patients attending the clinic have not been to see a dentist for over ten years and consequently have very poor standards of dental health; without the help of the center there would have been no possible means of them even affording the most basic treatments, let alone the complex treatments they require.
Dentists will also offer preventive treatments, which will be used to protect the teeth against decay in the future and subsequently reduce the need for treatment. Teaching patients about nutrition and dental hygiene will also help to improve oral health and encourage patients to pass on this knowledge and information to friends and relatives.
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