Dentistry From the Heart Kicks Off Its Year of Free Dental Services for Adults

This Saturday, February 16th, Brookview Dental in Sylvania, Ohio, will host its Smiles From the Heart Day.  On that day, adults 18 years of age or older can come on a first come, first served basis and get free tooth cleaning, filling, or extraction.  They are part of Dentistry From the Heart, an international group of dental practices that will devote one day a year to free basic dental services for adults.  For year-round free/low cost dentistry, look here.

The first event for 2013, fittingly, is on Valentine's Day in Limerick, Ireland, and the rest of the 2013 schedule is here.  To get details for how to participate in the event closest to you, click on the link for the clinic in your town.  Events will be added if/when more clinics participate.  For more information on free or low-cost dentistry around the United States, see these FMAMB entries on dentistry. 

Help for Cosmetic and Dental Work for Victims of Domestic Violence

The scars of domestic violence at once invisible—and often in prominent display.  Some people in the business of making others look their best are donating their services to get rid of the broken faces and teeth of domestic violence survivors.

In California, Face Forward is a medical team that contributes pro bono reconstructive surgery to adults and children disfigured in domestic and gang violence. Call 310-657-2253 for more information.

Face to Face is a project of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.  They work with domestic violence shelters to provide reconstructive surgery to the heads, faces and necks of victims who have reached a physically safe place and are beginning to move on with their lives.  Call the toll-free number 1-800-842-4546 to get the ball rolling.

For men and women needing cosmetic dental work to repair the damage of violence, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry sponsors Give Back a Smile, a program that takes survivors that have been out of the violent relationship for at least a year (if less, you get put on a waiting list).  The system isn’t totally freebie—after filling out the application—and paying a $20 application or putting in 10 hours of community work, you are eligible. 

Low-Cost Dental Care

Finding low-cost dental services can involve finding state programs (where they exist) as well as schools of dentistry and oral hygiene where students will work under the supervision of professors or teachers. In Dental Guide USA, both of those types of assistance are listed: there is a listing for state dental health programs, but also for dental and oral hygiene schools. Contact those institutions in your area and see if they run programs. There is also a listing for local dental programs in some areas. The state site, however, covers Medicaid-related coverage in general, so if your state’s dental programs for the poor are outside Medicaid, they may not be listed.In Toledo, Oh, try the Dental Center of Northwest Ohio.


For that reason, you should also check the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research site for low-cost dental help. It also has a link to dental/oral hygiene schools and state programs beyond Medicaid. Finally, the site for Donated Dental Services has a map with state-by-state listings for applicants who are “either disabled, elderly or medically compromised and have no other way for paying for dental care,” run by the National Foundation for Dentistry for the Handicapped.  If you look at each state, the qualifying criteria  sometimes go beyond that and include non-handicapped people. For Ohio, for example, they list the Options plan, which takes non-disabled poor people, too. So click on your state and see if you qualify for dental coverage. 

For children with certain special conditions (cerebral palsy, neuromuscular disorders, mental developmental disorders, or organ transplants), for whom dentistry presents special problems, the Grottoes of North America Humanitarian Foundation has a program to help provide dental services.  See their website or call 614-933-0711 for more information.