Kokomo — Deana Loer’s 7-year-old Jenavese’s mouth was swollen, as if the little girl had a bruise. Mom looked at the youngster’s teeth and there, above a molar, was an abscess.
Time to go to the dentist — except Deana no longer had dental insurance.
So in the pre-dawn hours Friday, the Loers traveled to Dr. John Ladd’s dental practice on West Lincoln Road for the fifth annual Dentistry from the Heart day.
As it has every year since 2005, the day long clinic drew hundreds of area residents, as a group of six dentists provided thousands of dollars in free medical care.
For Dr. Harold Smith, an oral surgeon at the Ladd practice, 11:30 a.m. was time for a break of sorts, flipping through paperwork as he readied for his next patient. After starting work at 8 a.m., he’d seen more than a dozen patients and had extracted about 30 teeth.
Extractions are what most of the patients come for, explained Ladd business director Kasey Quirk.
“We try to limit it to one tooth or one area [of the mouth], so we can see as many patients as possible,” Quirk said. “But most of the people we see, one tooth or one area is not going to clear up their dental problems.”
Smith said the clinic shows the effect the recession has had on dental health.
“When the economy takes a downturn, dentistry is one of the things that gets pushed to the side, and urgent care goes up,” he said.
“On a day like this, people don’t come in to get their teeth cleaned. You see tooth decay, abscesses, things that they’ve probably been living with for years.”
Kokomo construction worker Ronald Elrod, 39, admitted neglect has taken a toll on his teeth — as well as genetics on his mother’s side.
As of Friday morning, Elrod had seven remaining teeth. Out of work and without insurance, he’d come to the clinic Friday to have those teeth pulled to make way for dentures.
“It’s not a problem eating steak,” he said. “Just the pain from the pulling and ripping on the [remaining] teeth.”
According to the national Dentistry from the Heart organization, the Ladd Dental Group was the second location ever to host such a clinic. The first event was held in 2001 at Monticciolo Family and Sedation Dentistry in New Port Richey, Fla.
More than 50 volunteers were working at the Ladd clinic Friday, including six dentists, six hygienists and support staff.
Inside the clinic, dozens of patients were seated awaiting their turns, including some who began standing in line Thursday evening.
In the clinic’s parking lot, dozens more stood or sat in the bright October sun, hoping they’d get helped before 5 p.m. rolled around.
The need far exceeded the capacity of the clinic. Smith estimated the dentists would help anywhere between 150 and 200 patients Friday, donating around $50,000 in free dental care.
Fred Stage, a Chrysler engineer who volunteered for parking lot duty Friday, looked wistfully at an elderly man who’d been dropped off around 11 a.m.
By then, more than 100 people were in line in front of the man, who appeared frail.
“That’s what I hate to see,” Stage said. “His sister came and dropped him off, and he’s probably going to sit there all day, and he’s probably not going to get in. There’s just so much need.”
• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
