City dental clinic grows, adds staff Center hopes to reduce waiting list

BANGOR – Tooth decay, beware: Community dentists have just warmed up a few new drills.

Prompted by a waiting list of more than 4,000 people, the Penobscot County Health Center on Thursday opened its new expansion for oral health care at the 1012 Union St. clinic. Doubling its capacity from three dental stations to six – complete with chairs, X-ray machines and instruments – the clinic also added 1 1/2 dentist positions and 2 1/2 dental hygienist positions.

Funded through grants to ensure oral health services particularly for low-income and underserved people, the expansion is good news for patients now waiting up to nine months for a dental-hygiene visit at the clinic. The clinic serves Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.

“We hope we’ll be reducing the number [of waiting patients] significantly over the next year,” said PCHC Chief Executive Officer Ken Schmidt, noting that the clinic still will be adding new people to the list.

Open to anyone, the clinic offers complete oral care – from fillings to partial plates and dentures – and features a sliding scale for people with lower incomes. The clinic is expecting 15,000 dental visits in the next year, Schmidt said.

“We are here absolutely to serve those who don’t have the ability to pay for dental care,” Schmidt said. “That’s our mission.”

The clinic is serving a large number of emergency cases handled in a limited number of slots each day, according to Carol Williams, dental services coordinator. Oral health problems tend to build up in many patients who haven’t had a dental checkup in five to 10 years, Williams said.

“Some of these people really need a lot of work,” Williams said.

The clinic’s larger work force not only will allow more people to be seen, it also will provide resources to develop more consistent dental plans for patients, according to Eric St. Germain, the clinic’s first and only dentist when it opened last fall.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to establish them as more regular patients,” St. Germain said.

The influx of people and equipment also adds some new dynamics to St. Germain’s work.

“You can split the load, you can exchange points of view and you can have a colleague there to discuss the cases,” St. Germain said. “It makes life easier for us.”

To make an appointment for an emergency visit or a checkup, call the dental clinic at 945-5247. PCHC is a nonprofit health care agency devoted to ensuring access to outpatient care to the uninsured, participants of MaineCare and Medicare and those with health insurance.