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DO GOOD: How A Seed Of Generosity Helped A Clinic Grow by Julie Zweig

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In private practice, it's possible for a dentist to lack a complete scope of the dental problems facing a community. That was the case for Dr. Janet Rucker, until she started working with the Montgomery County Free Clinic in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

"I really had no idea of the need," Rucker said. "I thought, 'Okay, I'm going to see patients who haven't had their teeth cleaned for a few years and who have a few cavities.' But I'm seeing patients who haven't had their teeth cleaned ever, and it's not at all uncommon to see patients with 10 cavities and who are in pain all the time. I was shocked."

A new model for treating the uninsured
That scope of issues throws into stark relief the necessity of the critical work done by the Montgomery County Free Clinic, which is an outgrowth of an earlier free clinic in the area. The current iteration began in 2008, when a group of health-care providers set out to reboot the clinic with a new home and a new business model. The providers connected with Volunteers in Medicine, a nonprofit that helps build sustainable, free primary health clinics for the uninsured.

Rucker was recruited in 2009 to the clinic's board of directors, and the group set out to seek funding and find a new location. Fortunately, the organization quickly received a $900,000 grant, but it had more fundraising to do.

"It was a three-to-one matching grant, so we still had to raise $300,000 in order to get our clinic going," Rucker said. "But Montgomery County is a phenomenal community and we actually raised that in six months, with just two percent coming from businesses. We're a small community and yet we raised that kind of money because people know the need is so great."

An ally for equipping the operatory
Once the group found a building to remodel, Rucker—who had by then become president of the board—set out to equip the dental room. At the 2013 Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting, she made connections with many dental manufacturers, including A-dec, which led to a visit to the clinic site by Jeromy Moss, A-dec's territory manager.

"Jeromy came and took some pictures," Rucker said. Soon after, Moss called the clinic with the news that A-dec could donate equipment for the operatory. "I remember that very distinctly. I looked at our executive director and he looked at me like, 'Huh?' We had been hoping for a chair."

With A-dec as an ally, the clinic was able to redirect the money it would have spent equipping the dental operatory toward the purchase of a digital X-ray system.

With their build finally complete, the clinic opened its doors in August 2013 and began providing free basic medical and dental services to uninsured residents who met its income parameters. These guidelines help the clinic target a truly underserved portion of the community.

"We call them the working poor," Rucker said. "Patients are often working full time but they don't have any insurance and don't make enough money to afford it, and they don't have federal assistance. They're floating in a range where they are employed and making money, but not enough money to meet their needs."

Helping patients get from fear to relief
In those conditions, medical and dental needs can quickly compound. The clinic's statistics from January and February 2014 show that 42 patients were treated by the dental team, which currently has five volunteer dentists. Those 42 patients received 94 restorations, 68 extractions, 27 cleanings and 20 screenings.

"Our numbers will grow as we get more dentists involved, but currently we can see only one patient at a time for an hour, and when we see that patient we're doing four, five, six restorations," Rucker said. "We're doing quadrant dentistry, so the appointments are long."

Rucker explained that, while patients initially may be scared to visit the clinic, they're quickly put at ease when their dental problems are compassionately treated... and their pain is relieved.

"I spent half an hour recently talking a young man out of getting all his teeth pulled, which he wanted to do because he was in pain all the time," she said. "I told him that restorations will get him out of pain, and I think there was a sense of relief in it for him. I think he thought he had no choice. So he walked in with a lot of fear, and he walked out with some sense of relief, knowing he didn't have to lose all his teeth and there was a possibility for him to have a smile and to function normally."

With the support of their community and their new treatment space, the health-care providers at the Montgomery Country Free Clinic are looking forward to continuing their work.

"When providers started a similar clinic in Columbus, they said it felt like it took 15 years before they caught up with the dental needs," Rucker said. "So it is a journey, but it is fulfilling and wonderful."

To learn more about Montgomery County Free Clinic, go online and visit mcfreeclinic.org.



Julie Zweig has been with A-dec since 2013 and is the Web and digital media manager. She enjoys sharing stories that exemplify the A-dec Way: 15 guiding principles that define the company's commitment to excellence. The first principle is "a concern for people." For more information regarding A-dec philanthropy and the A-dec Way, go to www.a-dec.com.


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