For Those in Need, Service With a Smile

Grant Program Revamps Low-Income Dental Clinic

Margaret Hines-Smith, 33, of Washington, tries on her removable prosthesis at the dental clinic run by So Others Might Eat in Northwest. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)

There are some rotten and missing teeth in the District.

But many of them are finally getting the expert attention they need, thanks to a District-funded program that provides dental care to the city's poor and homeless populations.

Using a $1 million grant from the city, the nonprofit D.C. Primary Care Association distributed money to seven nonprofit primary care centers as part of an effort to expand access to health care in underserved areas, particularly neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River and parts of Ward 5.

Because of the program, Sheri Graves, 41, is no longer ashamed of her mouth. Using the latest in computer technology, her dentist, Ivan Stangel, pointed to an X-ray of two of her teeth, damaged by decay, on a flat-screen monitor. Just a year ago, it would not have been possible for Stangel, whose clinic is operated by the nonprofit So Others Might Eat, to provide the level of service he can now give Graves.

The SOME dental clinic's $100,000 overhaul, completed in February, was the first project funded by the grant to be finished. The clinic's busy schedule since then -- even with 33 percent expanded capacity -- highlights the strong demand for oral health care among low-income and homeless residents. The clinic, at 60 O St. NW, sees 40 to 50 patients a week and has a waiting list of 90 people.

"We hope that SOME is the first in a series of expansions and improvements in dental care to the underserved," said Sharon Baskerville, executive director of the Primary Care Association.

Research by Rebecca Bruno, a health policy associate at SOME, demonstrated why those improvements are needed. From March through July 2005, she surveyed 538 homeless men and women at 35 sites in every ward to determine their dental status. Sixty-one percent were male; 82 percent were ages 31 to 59. SOME also mailed surveys to 18 community-based dental clinics.

The survey found that 79 percent of adults were missing at least one tooth. About 42 percent had mouth pain, and 28 percent had gums that bled easily. Some good news: 84 percent of respondents said they brushed daily.

Based on Bruno's findings, the report recommended that the District do more to improve the dental care of low-income and homeless people.

"The District has failed to provide adequate and meaningful access to oral health care for its low-income and homeless adults, putting their health at risk," her report concluded.

When D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) became chairman of the Committee on Health in January 2005, he discovered that the District spent less than $250,000 annually on dental care for Medicaid recipients. "It was really a joke," he said.

Catania and other health advocates say they are pleased that oral health has become a top public health priority in the city and that the important links between dental care and overall physical health are better recognized.