Record Requests for Free Dental Care

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By Laura Kennedy

Story Published: Feb 12, 2011 at 6:59 PM MDT

Story Updated: Feb 14, 2011 at 2:16 PM MDT

BILLINGS - An unprecedented number of people showed up to a Billings dental center, hoping to get some free work done.

People started lining up outside of Brewer Dental Center at 9:00 p.m. Friday for the annual Dentistry from the Heart program. By 9:00 a.m. Saturday, more than 400 patients had checked in. Dr. Kevin Brewer said this is the biggest turn out they've ever had for this event which offers free dental care to people in need.

Jeannette Vieg got in line at Brewer Dental Center at 5:00 a.m. Saturday and there were already more than 200 people ahead of her. "I was shocked when I got here and the line was already huge, I thought, oh my goodness," Vieg said.

The day of free care was made possible by 75 volunteers from the Billings dental community. "I have a toothache and I know that I do not have the resources to pay for it so I'm grateful that they're doing this because here I am to have some dental work done," Vieg said.

Dr. Kevin Brewer said cost and fear often lead to dental neglect. "I think fear is a big factor, but I think for a lot of them it's cost too; fear of the financial end," he said.

Those in line could choose from an extraction, cleaning, or filling. Extraction was the most common procedure of the day. "There's a lot of people out there, like Dr. Brewer said, sometimes it's the financial, sometimes it's just the fear of going to a dentist," patient David Sanders said.

"The diversity, there's children and there's elderly. It's just a wonderful thing for the community," Vieg said.

"We enjoy doing it, too. Patients are very appreciative and we enjoy doing it," Brewer said.

Sanders said the atmosphere in line Saturday was one of appreciation, Billings taking care of Billings. The 2011 event is the sixth year of Dentistry from the Heart.

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EvolutionQuest said on Tuesday, Feb 15 at 9:23 PM

What is wrong with the dentist in this city. Why is it Brewer does this annual event, but we see very little effort by a large number of dentist offering to assist. We should have dentist rotate quarterly to provide services to the community. The city should open up the Metra and have a large number of dentist participate on a pro-bono basis. Dentist should go to the secondary schools and do visual exams. The students who need more attention can then work with that dentist on a pro-bono basis. If the parents have dental insurance then it could off-set the cost. We have to many lazy dentist in this community who do not get involved at a deeper level. If we kept kids and young adults teeth/mouth healthy it would reduce diseases later on. While I can't stand Brewer at least he is getting involved.

teeth said on Monday, Feb 14 at 10:39 AM

where is my buck from the tooth fairy.

such said on Monday, Feb 14 at 10:25 AM

such as it is.

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