Providing dental care for the community in 2024
During the COVID-19 pandemic, CMH partnered with Medical Teams International and other local organizations to provide information, testing, personal protective equipment, and vaccinations to tens of thousands of Clatsop County residents.
This partnership led to the creation of a program to provide free emergency dental services in Astoria. These services would not be possible without volunteer dentists, such as Dr. Jeremy Shakespear, committed to helping our community.
Patients are referred to the dental van through agencies like Clatsop Community Action (CCA), which also connects them to broader resources such as housing assistance, insurance allowance, and energy assistance.
The mobile dental van, supported by CMH and community partners, travels across Clatsop County to serve those in need. It helps patients with oral health service needs ranging from treatment for infection to extractions and restorative care. Blood pressure checks and patient education are also provided to each patient.
"It's rewarding to help those who don't have access to care,” Dr. Shakespear says.
Viviana Matthews, executive director of CCA, praises the van's impact, noting how it serves as a gateway to essential services.
"When people come for dental care, they're also connected with other critical resources,” she says.
Over 2024, support from CMH made 30 dental clinics possible. The funding provided 1,064 oral health procedures and emergency dental procedures, in addition to health care screenings for 216 patients, including 240 appropriate referrals for additional medical care services.
Since these events took place at Clatsop Community Action, many of the people served were newly registered in the CCA database and received some other service from CCA.
Services that clients can receive when they walk in include: clothing vouchers, personal care/hygiene products, bus tickets for local travel (monthly and daily passes), rental assistance for late rent or deposits for new move-ins, referrals to the veteran service officer, and energy assistance for electric/gas/oil and wood. There are many other things that people may receive.
Below are stories of some patients served by the Astoria dental van:
Lisa
Lisa, 59, heard about Medical Teams clinics through the CMH Facebook page. She drove 25 miles to get to the clinic.
Lisa was suffering with a toothache for nearly four months. She has Medicaid, but she didn’t think it included dental coverage.
“If I had not found this clinic, my boyfriend was going to pull the tooth,” Lisa says.
Marshall
Marshall, 33, works two jobs, one in construction and the other as a part-time janitor. When he’s not working, Marshall spends his time volunteering.
He found himself in a great deal of tooth pain and was seeking relief.
“I have an infected cheek due to a sharp tooth,” Marshall explains. “I think the tooth has died, and there is only part of it remaining.”
Marshall hoped to get the tooth extracted, but without insurance and a shortage of dentists in the Astoria area, his options have felt limited until Medical Teams.
“With nowhere else to go, I’m grateful to have Medical Teams here to extract the problem tooth,” he says.
Seraphim
Also suffering from tooth pain, was Seraphim, 20. Seraphim had been dealing with pain for almost six months and had made several attempts to get treatment, including an extraction clinic that was full, a root canal specialist who would not work on that particular tooth, and a visit to the emergency room.
She learned that she has second molars coming in and causing pressure on her first molars, because her jaw is too small. Seraphim’s aunt found out about the clinic on the CMH Facebook page.
“I am so glad to have found the Medical Teams clinic,” Seraphim says.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth, 49, has suffered much loss in the last few years – the death of her husband and relatives for whom she was caring, in addition to being homeless for a time.
Elizabeth has broken a tooth twice, resulting in two infections. She cannot afford the upfront cost to be treated by a dentist. She heard about a Medical Teams clinic from a friend who visited our clinic last month, and thankfully, she did not need to travel far to get there.
“Having the Medical Teams clinic available to me has helped a lot,” she shares.
Thanks to these services, Elizabeth was able to get an extraction to resolve the infection and pain.