Last summer, Yusuf got a call from Arlington Free Clinic’s appointment-scheduler encouraging him to take advantage of our newest service – dental care.
It had been over 10 years since he had seen a dentist.
Yusuf came to our Dental Clinic with a severely worn upper denture and bottom teeth that were extensively damaged by tooth decay. Additionally, he had severe bone loss around his remaining bottom teeth, rendering them non-restorable. Initially, our dentist relined Yusuf’s upper denture so that he could continue to use it until a new denture was produced. The dentist also extracted Yusuf’s remaining bottom teeth and recontoured the bone to accommodate a denture.
Yusuf’s mouth was stable and free from pain and infection for the first time in years. But without dentures, he struggled to speak and could only eat soft foods. Once Yusuf healed from his oral surgeries, the dentist began the process of fitting him with a new set of complete dentures.
Yusuf is Arlington Free Clinic’s first patient to receive a full set of dentures—and a healthy, new smile. But our newly-expanded and finally onsite dental program will allow us to triple the number of patients we can provide with basic dentistry and advanced, restorative procedures like crowns, root canals, and dentures that are so desperately needed by those who have gone without care for years.
With dental care now firmly rooted in our services, Arlington Free Clinic patients will have a truly comprehensive healthcare home where they can see their dentist in the same location they come to for doctor visits, physical therapy, counseling, and to pick up their medications—a unique model of care shown to improve health outcomes.
Story from our 2018 Holiday Mailing. Read more about AFC’s commitment to ethical storytelling here.