SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio dental office is opening its doors tomorrow (Saturday, March 26, 2011) and pledging to treat close to 200 patients free of charge.
At Advanced Smile Care, 11874 Wurzbach, workers are preparing for a very busy Saturday. Staff and dentists are taking part in Dentistry from the Heart, a program offering free tooth care to some of the city’s many people without dental insurance.
It’s the second year these professionals have volunteered their services to patients in need who simply show up.
“The patient were so unbelievably grateful, so unbelievably cooperative,” said Dr. Gerald Crouch, one of the dentists at Advanced Smile Care. “Last year we probably had 300 people arrive. We were able to treat 174, which we did about $35,000 worth of treatment on those 174 individuals.”
Each person can get one procedure, either a filling or a tooth extraction or a complete cleaning. This is the tenth year for Dentistry from the Heart which was started by a dentist in Florida and now takes place in more than 200 clinics around the country.
“People don’t go because it can be expensive to have dentistry done,” Crouch explained. “People don’t go because they’re sometimes scared of going to the dentist. And just access is difficult. Even though there are several charity clinics around town, people aren’t always aware of them.”
“Show up here tomorrow if you want to have a tooth worked on,” he added. “We’d be glad to do that for you.”
Advanced Smile Care is located at the corner of Wurzbach and Lockhill Selma in San Antonio. Doors will open at 7 a.m., but the office said you might want to show up before that to stand in line and snag a slot.
