Free dental services to be offered Saturday in Estero

• Stop by 21300 Town Commons Drive between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Patients will be helped on a first come, first serve basis
• For more information, visit www.FreeDentistryDay.org

A toothache can force a person without dental insurance into a costly hospital emergency room trip for care.

Emergency rooms are not equipped to help patients who need dental work, said Jolene Paramore, a dentist and a vice president of the Florida Dental Association.

"They give (patients) antibiotics. They give them pain medicine," Paramore said. "And they tell them to go to a dentist."

In 2008, an oral health study found adults ages 18 to 64 said the main reason they skipped dental visits was they "could not afford insurance," according to the American Dental Association.

Dental professionals try to help by volunteering their services at free events for people who otherwise would go without treatment, Paramore said.

One such event is scheduled at Complete Dentistry of Estero, which will provide a free cleaning, filling or extraction to anyone who stops by Saturday morning.

All a person has to do is show up, said Taylor Stevenson, practice administrator and a lead organizer of the event

"There's no catch. Everything is completely free," Stevenson said. "The more lives we can touch, the better."

It will be the second Dentistry Day in as many years. Volunteers helped about 80 patients in 2015, and the goal is to help at least as many people Saturday, Stevenson said.

"No one should have to live in pain," she said.

Many Floridians are living with dental pain. A recent free clinic in Jacksonville treated 2,800 patients but had to turn away twice as many more, Paramore said.

Of the 2,800 treated, two-thirds said they were in pain, one-third of them for more than a year, according to an on-site survey Paramore cited.

"It's very frustrating," Paramore said. "They camp out. They bring their tent and their sleeping bag. They'll spend the night to get rid of a toothache they've had for over a year."

Oral disease, such as tooth decay, disproportionately affects minority groups, older adults with physical and intellectual disabilities and people with low incomes, according to State of Decay, a 2016 study commissioned by Oral Health America's Wisdom Tooth Project.

Access to dental insurance is a critical factor in determining whether to seek care, the study found.

In 2011 and 2012, 1 in 5 adults ages 65 and older in the United States had untreated tooth decay, according to research cited by The Pew Charitable Trusts dental campaign.

But routine dental care — such as screenings, exams, fillings and extractions — is not provided by traditional Medicare, "the largest health care provider for people 65 and older," the study report states.

Fear or shame also can contribute to a person's aversion to dental visits, but anyone interested in attending Dentistry Day in Estero will be in the hands of dentists who know how to put patients at ease, Stevenson said.

"We will make sure everyone feels comfortable," she said. "No judgment. We are here to help."

Dentistry Day

When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday

Where: Complete Dentistry of Estero, 21300 Town Commons Drive

Participating dentists: Whitney Howard, Natalie Reboredo, Adam Beno, Wesley Nelson, Andrew Haidet, Broch Thomas, Hershell Steele, Fred Klepes, Johanna Hernandez and Ryan Harris.

More information: 239-676-1368 and www.FreeDentistryDay.org.