The only place that will provide those services for uninsured children in South Hampton Roads is the Chesapeake Free Clinic, which saw about 500 children last year. Even there, however, children must be at least 8 years old and able to sit still for three hours. Compared to paying rent, utilities and buying food, she said, dental care can seem like a luxury. Until it's too late, that is. The acid from the milk pools below the front teeth and eats away the enamel, resulting in serious decay, said Dr. Murray Spain, the dentist who had run the Beach school program for four years.
Untreated decay can lead to systemic and blood infections.
And rotten primary teeth can mean a lifetime of infections and pain, health professionals said. One advantage of having two of the three clinics outside elementary schools was that nurses could refer children during school hours. Newtown Elementary nurse Dawn Weber said she referred about 200 students to the dentist during the first few months of school. Last week, a child came in with a deep cavity. She called the mother, who earned too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance.