Next month, scores of dentists, oral hygienists, dental assistants, dental students, and community volunteers will set up at Elkin High School for one purpose — to offer dental care to those who cannot afford it.
Dr. Jim Harrell, who is overseeing the effort in Elkin, said two years ago the event drew 582 patients over two days.
While many are aware of the need for traditional medical care — and the expense that is sometimes an obstacle to those without adequate insurance or income to pay for it — there are often ways to get that care. Medicaid, free clinics, and hospitals treating acute conditions are utilized by many.
It is more difficult to get adequate dental care. Harrell said few dentists will accept Medicaid patients because the Medicaid payouts are less than the cost of giving that service.
But dental care, he said, is vital.
“There is no way you can be totally healthy if you’ve got disease in your mouth.” Those dental issues can not only affect quality of life, but can compromise a person’s overall medical health.
The need is great, he said. Last time the clinic was held, in 2023, he said many patients showed up the afternoon before and slept in their vehicles in order to get a spot in line.
In a similar clinic he worked in Sparta, he said his first patient that day was a woman who lived in the Outer Banks. She worked her shift at Walmart the day before, then drove through the night to Sparta in order to get much-needed dental care.
“At the last one, two years ago, we saw a few people who had never been to a dentist,” he said. “The need is great...All you can do in a few days is make a slight dent in the need. It’s out there, it’s (the need) amazing.”
He said volunteers will descend on the high school the day before the clinic, on June 19, to prepare the facility, transforming the gym into a 50-chair dental clinic.
Harrell said the work is comprehensive — chairs are set up and hooked to a source of electricity, temporary PVC pipe is installed to carry away waste water, generators are set up, air compressors put in place, and all the medical and dental equipment needed to do the procedures are put out.
In addition to the volunteers, he said doing a clinic such as this is expensive — he put the cost at $156,000. That figure is shared by donors, the North Carolina Dental Society Foundation, and a group based in Wisconsin which stores and rents out the equipment to be used.
For those needing dental services, he said there are no appointments or registration needed — “Just show up. We’ll work on people on a first come, first-served basis.”
The clinic opens at 6 a.m. each day.
Dr. Harrell said a patient will be x-rayed first, so those working can get a sense of the dental needs.
“They can keep the X-ray, have access to it,” he said. “We try to educate them as to what their overall needs may be. We try to take care of the primary need, whatever that is.”
Volunteers will try to work with patients to let them know, based on the x-rays, what other needs they may be facing and, in a few cases, may be able to refer them to area dentists or clinics offering some limited medical care.
“My one concern...I just hope that anybody out there who is in need at least knows about the clinic,” he said.
For those wishing more information, either as to how to access the clinic services, or to volunteer, visit
