Thumbs up to the Virginia Health Care
Foundation for putting up a $157,000 grant over the next three years
that will help provide additional dental care for the working poor at
the Free Clinic of Central Virginia.
Under terms of the grant, dental students and dental hygienist
students at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry will
work under the supervision of local dentists in delivering services at
the Free Clinic.
The clinic has offered limited dental services since it opened in the
l980s, but Robert Barlow, executive director of the clinic, said the
program will help meet more needs in the region. Those needs are
reflected in the waiting list number that stands at 300,which means
most patients have a four- to six-month wait for services.
Barlow said the additional services, which will begin in August, will
triple the patient load to as many as 1,500 more dental appointments
annually. That’s a blessing for the working poor in the region who
don’t have insurance to cover such dental care.
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