DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A two-day dental clinic started Friday in Daytona Beach and is giving people access to the care they need — for free.
Long lines of hopeful patients wrapped around Mainland High School early Friday in preparation for the event that started at 7 a.m.
Many people lined up in the early hours of the morning since the event is on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Alongside those patients were hundreds of volunteers, from dentists to dental hygienists, from all over the Central Florida region, getting ready to serve those in need of urgent dental care.
The Florida Mission of Mercy event is sponsored by the Florida Dental Association (FDA) Foundation and is held with the premise of providing relief from pain and infection of untreated dental diseases at no cost.
The FDA Foundation expects to treat up to 2,000 patients over the course of the two-day event.
On Friday, less than two hours after the doors opened, volunteers were already turning people away because they had exceeded their limit for the day.
A ticketing system allows patients to check in at the site and return for their designated appointment time, depending on the type of care they need.
This year’s event also includes a veterans-first initiative to give local veterans the opportunity to pre-register to receive priority care on both days of the clinic
For some people, receiving dental care comes at the cost of other much-needed expenses in their lives.
Such is the case of Winter Haven resident Erica Bailey, who drove 2-1/2 hours to Daytona Beach.
Accompanied by her mother, the pair left their home at 1 a.m. ET to make their way into the line at 3:30 a.m.
Despite having to wait almost four hours in line alongside hundreds of other people, Bailey said it was well worth her time.
"I don’t have dental insurance. I don’t have any coverage. My mother doesn’t have any coverage," patient Erica Bailey said. "And we have medical children at home so our budget is already very tight.
"My mother’s dentures were shattered, and now she doesn’t have any method to eat and we don’t have the ability to seek dental care for that. And I don’t have the money to allocate for my own teeth because then my children need to do without their medical treatment."
Bailey said that without these types of events, she doesn’t get the dental treatment that she needs.
She explained that she takes turns with her eldest son to receive dental care. Last year, he got the care he needed at an event in Lakeland and this year, it’s her turn.
“I didn’t have treatment for a year because I sacrificed my treatment so my son could have treatment and we could switch off with the medical children that are at home,” she said.
Bailey has four boys that range between the ages of 2 and 28. Two of them have muscular dystrophy, and another has a form of cerebral palsy.
“Today is my self-care,” added Bailey, who was eager to see her mother receiving the care that she needed.
Among those looking forward to providing that care to patients is Dr. Brenna Kever, a Seminole County dentist and the president of the Florida Dental Association Foundation Board.
This is her third-year volunteering at the Florida Mission of Mercy event, and she said it never gets old.
“We are so grateful to be able to give back to our community in the fact that these patients come in, in pain or with infections or embarrassed cosmetically, and we’re able to help provide services to help them feel better about themselves, help them be healthier before they leave that day,” Kever said.
She said bridging the gap in facilitating access to dental care is one of the main drivers behind this event.
“That’s one of the main reasons for these events that we put on is to help improve that access to care for patients across the state of Florida, giving them free access to dental care. whether or not they’re in a rural, urban or suburban area,” Kever. said.
Rosie Wood is the caretaker of two young boys who needed dental care, including a root canal. But she said she couldn’t afford to pay for them to get those procedures in a regular dentist’s office.
“We already looked at the cost for the root canal, and I’ve had three with dental and still had to pay over $400 per tooth out of pocket, so I knew it was going to be expensive. But he needed it, and when I saw the advertisement, I’m like, 'At least we could try',” Wood said.
Each year the event is held in a different location.
Previous Florida Mission of Mercy events were held in Tampa, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tallahassee West Palm Beach and Lakeland. According to the FDA Foundation, the MOM event has provided dental care to more than 15,000 patients across the Sunshine State for an equivalent of approximately $17 million in donated dental care.
The parking lot will be unlocked at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, and patients are urged to start arriving that early because turnout has been high, and Saturday typically is the busiest at these events.
Patients are being asked to use the entrance on Clyde Morris Boulevard to facilitate parking once on site.