Low-income clinic sees more patients, but demand still high

Officials with the Tooele County Health Department’s low-income dental clinic are smiling bigger and brighter these days after getting off to a sluggish start nearly two years ago.

The transformation of Healthy Smiles Dental Clinic is due to a paid dentist who works at the clinic twice a week, several local dentists who volunteer their time and students in dental hygiene programs. However, the current waiting list for patients is stretched out until March of next year with the clinic seeing between 140 to 180 patients a month.

“Right now we have such a high demand at the clinic,” said Bucky Whitehouse, Tooele County Health Department public information officer. “It’s a unique situation in part because we have a doctor on staff and various dentists who volunteer. But, demand is high enough that even with the providers (dentists) we still have to schedule out that far.”

The clinic hired Dr. Angela Christensen, of Bluffdale, a year and a half ago to help alleviate the burden on the volunteer practitioners. Christensen sees 15 to 20 patients a day, doing procedures such as cleanings, extractions and fillings. She also sees walk-ins who are in need of emergency care.

“If we didn’t have her, we wouldn’t see nearly as many patients,” said Tooele County Health Department Environmental Health Director Jeff Coombs. “It would not work very well if we didn’t have a paid dentist. With the number of people we see, it works a lot better that way.”

But he added the more volunteer dentists the clinic gets, the more people can be served. Healthy Smiles is in contact with other dentists in the area encouraging them if they have time available to volunteer at the clinic.

Christensen doesn’t have her own dental practice and works solely at Healthy Smiles.

In addition to the hiring of a paid dentist on staff, Coombs said they have two paid dental assistant positions. Healthy Smiles also works with dental students from Tooele High School, Tooele Applied Technology College and Dr. Landon Rockwell’s dental assisting program.

“It’s good for both us and them,” Coombs said of the clinic’s student volunteers. “It’s good for us because we don’t have to pay for them and it makes our resources stretch farther and [it’s good] for the students because it gives them more hands-on training.”

Healthy Smiles is also getting help from local dentists like Dr. Mike Wells and retired dentist Dr. Jay De La Mare who specializes in dentures. De La Mare volunteers at the clinic twice a month while Wells is one of the local dentists who volunteers once a month. Dr. Joe Hamilton and his lab technician Alan Oikyle also volunteer. Other dentists come in when their schedules allow them time away from their own practices.

“It’s a great benefit for local dentists,” Coombs said. “A lot of dentists are referring patients here. It’s a resource for the local dentists as well.”

Healthy Smiles, which opened in January 2008, runs as a low-income dental clinic funded by state and federal grants and patient fees. The clinic is not free for its patients but they pay a reduced rate based upon their income level. According to Coombs, potential patients cannot be above the 200 percent poverty threshold level. The clinic justifies their patients through various income verifications.

“We are a dental health clinic to service low-income people, not a discount clinic,” Coombs said.

Healthy Smiles is located in the Tooele County Health Department building at 151 N. Main St. in Tooele and doesn’t have set hours or days. To schedule an appointment call 277-2430.

“We consider Healthy Smiles to be a great success,” Whitehouse said, “and it’s also an indication of the demand in the community for dental care for those who are at a low-income level.”

Missy Thompson: missy@tooeletranscript.com