Free Care Clinic Readying Dental Services

This article was published in The Pilot on July 10, 2022.

Some uninsured Moore County residents may soon be able to receive free dental services under a new dental clinic initiative at the Moore Free and Charitable Clinic.

The clinic, which will be located in the health clinic’s existing building in Southern Pines, has garnered enough funds to get off the ground and is now awaiting construction permits, clinic CEO Tony Price said. He hopes to have it done by the end of the year.

“The real benefit here is we will have a dental facility where uninsured patients can get the services that they need for everything from hygiene, to cleanings, to extractions if necessary,” Price said.

Moore Free and Charitable Clinic is a private, non-profit clinic that provides primary care services at low or no cost to eligible uninsured residents in the county. It treats common chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes and provides medication through its own pharmacy, Price said. Last year, the clinic served 1,783 patients and it typically sees anywhere from 22 to 52 patients a day. Patients must be 250 percent below the federal poverty line to qualify for services. For a family of three, the federal poverty level this year is $23,030.

Offering an alternative to urgent care facilities or a hospital emergency room, Price said the clinic is the only facility that offers free care to the uninsured in Moore County. Most of the healthcare professionals work on a volunteer basis and the clinic has strong connections to local health providers.

The clinic is funded primarily through donations, as well as receiving funding from grants and contributions from the county and FirstHealth of the Carolinas.

Price said the dental clinic received a large part of its funding — about $70,000 — from a recent gala by musician Tom Bernett. In total, Price said the clinic raised about $380,000 to meet the initial funding threshold for a dental facility.

Price said a large part of the dental clinic’s focus will be helping people to practice and understand the importance of dental hygiene. Teeth clinics will be offered, as well as diagnostic measures like x-ray screenings.

“What's happened over the years is I think that the mouth has been separated from the body,” Price said. “What we're trying to do is put the mouth back in the body, essentially, and make sure that we start with hygiene.

“So for our patients that are uninsured . . . (it’s) talking to them about how important hygiene is and how bad hygiene can affect your body. It can affect other health elements in your body. So we're trying to make sure that they understand that and that taking care of their teeth, getting cleanings regularly is important.”

Price also said the clinic aims to prevent short-term fixes like emergency room visits that ultimately don’t prevent infections from recurring.

“We don't want them (patients) to go to the emergency room,” Price said. “That's not the place for them. They'll get some pain pills, but they don't fix the problem.”

Price said that, once the dental clinic is established, he hopes to “progressively” expand its scope over the years.

“At some point way out in the future, not immediately, we'd like to even do some implants. I don't know if we'll get there in my lifetime. But hygiene is the important thing right now.”