Crowds camp overnight in Brighton, CO for free dental care

[Iwillnevergiveup]

Don't miss the video embedded in the article, but have some Kleenex handy.

BRIGHTON — The doors to a free dental clinic in Brighton opened at 5:00 this morning to a throng of anxious people.

The first person in line was Robin Kelley, 59, of Westminster, who got in line at 5 p.m.

"We only have one car," she explained, "and my husband works at night, so he dropped me off."

Like others in line, she had a blanket and camped out on the sidewalk. "The company was warm and great," she said.

At 6:15 organizers ended the line at 808 people, because they felt that was the number of patients that could be seen today. Those who arrived later were turned away, and told that the clinic would also be open Saturday.

http://denverpost.com/ci_13315353

[Iwillnevergiveup]

1. "Meth mouth" patients

My God, this is just horiffic!

[Divine Discontent]

3. I'm starting to look like that without the meth!

see, the elite class will pearly whites while the poor will have rotted out nubs, it will be easy to distinguish us from them.

There are tens of millions of people who need dental work badly in the USA. Universal health care making our nation healthier (gum disease and all that it effects is very important to stop) is imperative, but too many leaders only care about corporate fundraisers in their honor.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. It's great they can see 800 in a day

[Divine Discontent]

4. amazing!

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. When a volunteer handed Smits the extra ticket, he broke down and sobbed.

John Smits, 47, of Adams County, showed up after the tickets had
already been handed out but just as someone standing in line discovered he had two tickets stuck together.

When a volunteer handed Smits the extra ticket, he broke down and sobbed.

"You don't know what I've been through to get here," he said, explaining he got a speeding ticket on the way to the clinic.

"I'm not working and I haven't had dental care for a long time so I'm really excited about this," he said.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

6. Yeah, then you have to wonder

how much no dental care has impacted his unemployment.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

7. Dental/vision treatments

not covered by MediCare, right?

[elocs]

8. They had one in my city last June and treated 1533 people at our civic center.

http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=10606741

For the last two days volunteers filled the La Crosse Center to offer free dental check ups.
Mission of Mercy set up the clinic and provided dental services to 1,533 low income patients.
The estimated 1,000 volunteers exceeded their goal of providing $600,000 in free dental care.

Aside from helping so many people, event organizers hope the Clinic sheds light on the number of individuals needing this kind of care.

Wisconsin Dental Association Vice President Dr. Gene Shoemaker says, "Number one we want to get people out of critical need, people who are in dental infection and or pain, get them out of that situation. Number two we want to highlight the increasing difficulty that low income patience have accessing dental care."
The Wisconsin Dental Association is hoping this event will also prompt policy makers to find solutions to the oral health care access issue. This was the first Mission of Mercy event in Wisconsin.

In a nation such as the United States we should be embarrassed that these kind of dental and medical clinics are needed to help the poor and the working poor to attain basic healthcare that many of us take for granted.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

9. That is amazing - 1,533 people

Mission of Mercy :applause:

[Iwillnevergiveup]

10. Does this event

cancel out the 9/12 nonsense, or what???

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. kick