Group effort will launch dental clinic for underserved population

Officials at Missouri Southern State University on Tuesday will announce the creation of the Southwest Missouri Collaborative for Dental Care for the Underserved.
Besides MSSU, others involved in the effort to provide low-cost basic dental care to eligible adults include Community Clinic of Joplin, Access Family Care and ACHE Dental. The program will be funded by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health.
“The foundation has put an emphasis on adult oral health,” Tia Strait, dean of the School of Health Sciences at MSSU, said in a statement. “Children can be seen through Medicaid, but adults can fall through the cracks.”
Through the program, eligible patients will be seen by Missouri Southern dental students on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the W. Robert Corley Dental Hygiene Clinic, located in the Health Sciences Building. The clinic provides real-world experience for students, who are supervised at all times by faculty, and offers cleanings, X-rays and  other preventive services.
Eligible patients must be 19 or older and at or below 150 percent of the 2013 federal poverty guidelines, not have insurance or receive Medicaid or Medicare. They must also reside in Barry, Barton, Cedar, Dade, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald or Newton counties.
Patients will be eligible for up to $280 of dental services per year; clinic visits will cost $20.
Strait said the clinic will offer basic preventive care; patients with other needs would be referred to Access, ACHE Dental and the community clinic.
Applications for the program can be found at joplinclinic.org or by calling 417-624-5500, ext. 24.

Announcement details
The formal announcement of the Southwest Missouri Collaborative for Dental Care for the Underserved will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday in room 167 of the Health Sciences Building at Missouri Southern State University.   JoplinGlobe