Dental clinic offers help to those in drug recovery programs

by The Associated Press –

BEVERLY, KY. — A dental clinic in Kentucky is offering help to people in drug recovery and treatment programs.

The Courier Journal reports Red Bird dental clinic staffers and University of Louisville dental students are extracting diseased teeth and providing dentures for center patients. Red Bird is a mission of the United Methodist Church.

Red Bird Dental Director Dr. Bill Collins says many treatment center patients suffer from advanced dental decay. He says the Beverly clinic aims to build their self-confidence and put them in a better position to get jobs. The development director at Red Bird, Tim Crawford, says the clinic has signed up about 50 people so far.

Patients may pay up to $25 a visit, and the clinic has a mobile dental van that visits several centers across eastern Kentucky.