“The story addressed a major public health concern among Rhode Island residents: lack of access to dental care. Many of the state’s residents had not had preventive dental care for years and now had serious dental decay or missing teeth that prevented them from eating to maintain health. Many were unemployed or house bound because they were ashamed of their appearance and would not leve their house. And many liced in constant dental pain and applied topical solutions to “kill” the pain. Some suffered for over a year before accessing treatment. A group of volunteers that included dentists of all kind, physicians, nurses and technicians set up the free dental clinic described in my story. Thousands were treated. Such treatment included fillings, extractions and dentures. One of the persons that is featrued in the story -picture on first page told me that she now was not ashamed to smile – she could smile for the first time in years because she had death. After the story was written several of the subjects interviewed received offers from local dentists to finish any dental care that was needed – for free. Most patients and families have not dental insurance, are unemployed or don’t have money to pay for even preventive care. Rhode Island was a state heard hit by the recession, and has yet to recover”
