The need for such a clinic is acute. Ohio has decided to create seven trust funds for the money. Since 1995, Akron has run a part-time dental clinic with the help of five volunteers from the Akron Dental Society. The University of Akron's School of Nursing funds a dentist to work eight hours a week. The clinic, which operates about eight days a month, is only able to provide basic emergency services like extractions and fillings.
Patients currently wait about two months for an appointment.
The existing clinic does not treat people on Medicaid because of a prevailing belief that they have access to private dentists. But Ervin says few area dentists see Medicaid patients. In the first three months of this year, the clinic has already seen 210 patients. Since 1998, the numbers of patients seen at the clinic has been dropping because the pool of volunteers has shrunk. The health department will open the new dental clinic in the South Arlington Plaza, adjacent to the Community Health Center.