Until three weeks ago, the 25 percent of Pitkin County residents who live below the federal poverty level had little access to dental care.
That’s because no dentists in the Roaring Fork Valley accept Medicaid or Medicare, said Garry Schalla, development director for Mountain Family Health Centers, which provides health care to low-income residents.
But as of March 6, the approximately 4,500 Pitkin County residents below the poverty level have a dental care option at the El Jebel Community Center parking lot. That’s where Mountain Family Health has parked its new $300,000 mobile dental health care clinic for the next 18 months or so. “The response has been overwhelming,” Schalla said. “In three weeks, we have 80 new patients.”
The dental bus — purchased mostly with federal grant money, though local donors chipped in, too — features a waiting room and two dental chairs, he said. Services at the bus include X-rays, filling small cavities, teeth cleaning and other basic services, Schalla said. More complicated cases will be referred to Mountain Family Health’s dental clinic in Rifle, he said.
The bus will be staffed by a dentist on Mondays and Tuesdays and a hygienist on Fridays until May, when a full-time dentist is scheduled to start, Schalla said. After that, the dental bus will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., he said.
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