DENTAL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Updated January 2013

In addition to restorations (“filling of cavities”) and extractions, the FCCV is different from other dental clinics because we also provide regular dental hygiene services. These are mostly completed in the daytime with dental hygiene students from the VCU School of Dentistry. The FCCV will expand its offerings for dental hygiene services/appointments with a new volunteer program in Spring 2013. It is strongly confirmed by the literature that a preventative service such as dental hygiene is an important facet of good overall dental care.

Importantly, the Free Clinic collaborates with the Lynchburg Dental Society, which has provided over 70 volunteer dentists to give direct services for patients or to serve as mentors/professors to the dental students. Centra Health Inc provides free student housing and discounted meal plans at VBH for these visiting groups. The Free Clinic has educational partnerships with the Virginia Commonwealth School of Dentistry, Howard University School of Dentistry, and other dental programs to provide many “slots” for Central Virginia patients with these student externs, who complete their rotations at the clinic.

The FCCV will accept Medicare and Medicaid patients in the dental program based on household income. The reason for this is two fold: 1) Medicare and Medicaid do not generally “cover” dental services in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and 2) There is only one other very small indigent care dental provider physically located in Central Virginia at this time. The need for dental assistance is far too great to exclude any of these persons from basic dental services at this time.
The goals in the dental services area at the FCCV have been and still are:

a) Continue to provide at least 5,000 appointment slots for basic dental services in the day and evening. This number (and more) has been accommodated since 2007 when the number of operatories (chairs) was increased from 3 to 6. This is the current maintenance goal for the immediate future years.

b) The Dental Clinic Partnership with Blue Ridge Medical Center (BRMC) in Nelson County, which was at the independent Nelson Dental Clinic, and is now at the Blue Ridge Medical Center itself, began in March 2008. It has eliminated the need for 300-400 individual patients to make 600-800 visits into Lynchburg for dental services. They are now provided in Nelson County. It has also provided an opportunity to produce some sets of dentures for selected FCCV patients.

c) The Dental Hygiene Program in partnership with CVCC was opened in August 2008, but it ended in May 2012. The FCCV is currently looking at some other new options to provide expanded dental hygiene services in 2013.

d) Expanded dental hygiene appointment slots were possible beginning in calendar year 2009 with the addition of Central Virginia Community College externs. Advanced students were able to provide actual services through May 2012.

e) Expanded dental appointment slots have been developed in the summer months.

There are NOT usually any patients on our waiting list for basic dental assistance. We are able to “work in” dental emergencies that we are capable of handling on an “as needed” basis. Usually, a patient in need of urgent care can be accommodated within a matter of days. We do have periods during the year (i.e. student school vacation periods) when the actual time to get a routine appointment “stretches out” to 4-5 weeks. Over the years, we have reduced these waiting periods with the CVCC partnership for Dental Hygiene, the Blue Ridge Medical Clinic partnership for dental services, and NOW FULL summer services from VCU School of Dentistry & Howard University School of Dentistry students.

As indicated above, the Free Clinic can accommodate individuals into the program for urgent care, but it still needs more appointment slots in order to meet the full needs of the Central Virginia population and/or continue to expand the current specialty service offerings to patients. We continue to work toward this goal of providing an increased, broader capacity for our patients!

SUMMARY Dental Description (Word document)

V.C.U. SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY & FREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA, INC. DAYTIME DENTAL PROGRAM PARTNERSHIP