Free dental clinic set in Troy Saturday
TROY — The New York State Dental Association and Hudson Valley Community College are teaming up to bring free dental services to Troy Saturday.
Dental hygiene students and dental assistants-in-training at the college will screen patients at the event and those who need dental services will be referred to one of two dental vans staffed with volunteer dentists. The event will take place at 80 Vandenburgh Ave. between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to the dental association.
“The goal of the event is to increase access to dental care, home health utilization and oral health literacy, while decreasing the use of emergency departments for dentalfocused problems.” the dental association said in a press advisory.
Dental professionals will provide dental screenings, emergent care, X-rays, treatment diagnosis, pain management guidance, extractions and more.
The event was organized as a response to the recent closures of several hospital-based clinics in the Capital Region which have displaced thousands of patients, most of them enrolled in Medicaid and Medicaid managed care plans.
The association, which represents private dentists in New York, most of whom do not accept Medicaid, has advocated for appointing
regional dental coordinators and holding pop-up events like this one to help match people with “dental homes.”
The challenge is that dental homes for the Medicaid recipients, the uninsured and the underinsured are in short supply.
Just one in three dentists in the state participates in Medicaid, and of those who do, most are located in New York City, according to a 2022 study.
In the Capital Region, St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany and Adirondack Health’s Lake Placid dental clinic were shuttered this summer, while the facility run by Ellis Hospital in Schenectady closed its doors in June 2021. Whitney Young Health also closed its dental clinic in Troy
during the pandemic, citing staffing challenges.
Pop-up health events like these tend to draw far more patients than volunteers can see in one day. At a recent one-day dental clinic in Bennington, Vt., the parking lot was opened the night before in anticipation of the long lines of people seeking dental care.
To attend the Troy event, schedule an appointment early at www.nysdental.org/ ddp
Hudson Valley’s dental hygiene school also provides low-cost cleanings, X-rays, sealants and dental nutritional counseling to the community several hours per week when classes are in session. Learn more about HVCC’S dental hygiene clinic here.