Tooele County Health Department officials are working hard to open the county's new state-of-the-art dental clinic by January.

The new clinic, located inside the Tooele County Health Department on 151 N. Main St. in Tooele, was created to serve the high number of individuals in Tooele County who cannot afford dental treatment from a regular dentist. It is expected that eligible patients will generally be low-income, without dental insurance, underinsured, or on Medicaid or Medicare.

Local dentist Dr. Mike Wells, who will be volunteering at the clinic, said smaller materials such as drills and other equipment still need to be collected before the clinic can open next month.

The clinic itself is expected to operate much like the health department's Healthy Smiles Project did two years ago, but it will be located in the health department building and include newer dental equipment. It will feature a number of local dentists -- all of whom will volunteer their time -- providing care to eligible individuals.

"In a way, this dental clinic will be a completely new thing, and it will feature dedicated volunteers and a more equipped facility than what we had for the Healthy Smiles Project," Wells said.

Relief Services Coordinator Karen Kuipers said the clinic will be a big help for low-income residents in Tooele County who can't afford dental care and have nowhere to go locally for treatment.

"I've seen low-income people with abscesses, infections or broken teeth -- all of which had been causing them severe pain -- and the closest place they had to go for a low-income dental clinic was Salt Lake," Kuipers said "When people have emergency dental needs that might require emergency dental procedures, they need to have them taken care of right then and now. This clinic will serve as an alternative to the emergency room, as well as a place for those who are not getting preventive care, which could lead to an emergency issue for them."

Kuipers said the clinic will not compete with private dentists.

"When you're low-income and struggling, it's not a matter of choosing between seeing a private dentist and visiting a local clinic, because most low-income people can't afford dental care or the cost of a private dentist," she said. "Some traditional programs don't cover dental care for them, and most private dentists don't take Medicaid. There are also income criteria at the clinic, as far as being able to be served, so it's not like just anyone can receive treatment."

Local dentist Clair Vernon agreed that competition would not be a factor because most private dentists do not accept Medicaid, and that there are enough people on Medicaid in Tooele County to justify the new dental clinic.

"I think they need to hire a full-time dentist there at the clinic, because I'm sure they could stay busy with the high amount of Medicaid patients there are in Tooele County," Vernon said. "There is a big enough need here."

Wells said most of the funding for the building and equipment came from several different grants and donations. He also said that by the time the clinic opens, he is hoping to have a dental assistant/office manager serving there as a full-time staff member.

"The dental assistant/office manager will be our one full-time staff member, while everyone else working there, the dentists and assistants, will be volunteers," Wells said. "We are looking at the options of hiring some professional staff members, but that is still yet to be determined."

Tooele County Environmental Health Director Jeff Coombs said the majority of the dental equipment has now been installed in the clinic space, and that the health department is still advertising for the dental assistant/office manager.

"We've been advertising locally through the paper for the dental assistant/office manager, and as part of the job the person would act as a secretary and do front office and clerical duties," he said. "As far as equipment goes, we have the majority of what we need, but still have a few minor things to get. We've already had several dentists express interest in volunteering."

Currently, the clinic has three patient chairs with necessary equipment attached, two sinks, a panoramic x-ray machine, a smaller-scale tooth x-ray machine, a film developer for the x-rays, several dentist and assistant chairs, and a special sterilization machine to sterilize dental instruments.

Stephanie Jensen, executive director for Salt Lake Donated Services, which is a dental clinic for homeless individuals and those who are 100 percent below the poverty level, said she has also worked with the Tooele County Health Department to help get their dental clinic up and running.

"We have dentists who are all volunteers and a small staff maintained here at Salt Lake Donated Services, so we gave them feedback on what we had done and how our program has worked," she said. "We talked to them about volunteer recruitment and other things like that. We offered to donate equipment to them, but they were already able to purchase equipment through funding."

Wells, who is also an adjunct professor for the University of Louisville School of Dentistry in Louisville, Ky., said he is also currently trying to coordinate an internship program at the clinic for dental students from the University of Louisville.

"The program would last 12 weeks and cover most of the summer, and we'd have one student at a time for six weeks," he said. "We're still working on the arrangements with the university, but this will be a good opportunity for the students to gain experience and training outside of their area."

Coombs also said there are plans to give experience and training to dental students coming from the new vocational/technical training school being planned by the Tooele County School District.

"The new school will be teaching dental assisting and medical assisting as part of their classes, and we think our dental clinic could be used as a place for those future students to gain more experience," Coombs said.

Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com