Crowds Turn Out for Donated Dental Services

"I'm here to have some teeth pulled," William Gordon, 74, of North Charleston, told Burger. "I've been having some pain, and I need to get it taken care of." Gordon, like many of the day's patients had been standing in line from 5:00 in the morning, waiting to get into a chair.

"If I had dental insurance, I wouldn't be here," Brian Rhodes, from Charleston, another person waiting in line, told Burger.

The South Carolina Dental Association paid for the Dental Access Days, and the group estimates that more than 2,000 patients received care in two days.

"This is the very first access program we have put on in the state of South Carolina," Dr. Larry Ferguson, a Charleston dentist and former president of the association, told Burger. "We knew there was a tremendous need. I've always wanted to help the less fortunate because of my background and how I grew up."

As Burger describes it, the inside of the convention center looked like a "mobile military hospital as health care professionals in blue surgical garb worked feverishly to provide basic dental services such as cleaning, filling and pulling teeth."

Making the event run smoothly were more than 150 volunteers from Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, S.C., who guided and helped prepare patients. Some volunteers also helped by translating.

"Infections in the mouth can lead to infections throughout the body and trouble controlling blood pressure," Ferguson told Burger. "If you're a diabetic, it can cause trouble because patients aren't able to eat like they should and keep their blood sugar under control."

Also volunteering for the massive dental day were more than 100 dental students from the Medical University of South Carolina. They not only helped out but got great real-world experience.

"Not only is this an educational component from the dentistry standpoint, but also from the heart standpoint," Dr. Mark Barry, associate dean for clinical affairs at MUSC, told Burger. "It's an opportunity to identify and see how much need there is out there."