HERMITAGE, Pennsylvania (WKBN) – Buhl Regional Health Foundation is just one of the places in the valley focused on the health and well-being of youth in Mercer County. Just one of the ways it’s helping the community is by bringing a free dental clinic to Sharon High School this June.
Remote Area Medical Clinic (RAM) partners with Buhl Regional Health Foundation to bring a free clinic to town that’s for everyone in the community, not just for Mercer County residents, and runs like a well-oiled machine. Just ask Dr. Stephanie Misco who was just one of the volunteer dentists last year.
“They completely transform the gym at Sharon High School. It’s very clean and organized,” said Dr. Misco. “I was able to remove and participate in doing extractions. It is unbelievable the amount of infection that came in and we were really able to help people and alleviate that for them.”
Tents are set up all throughout the gym to individualize dental treatment with everything ensured to be clean and sanitary with an entire sterilization area. There’s also no age limit to who can show up.
“I saw an individual last year who just moved up from South Carolina and didn’t have a dentist. She wasn’t established,” said Dr. Misco. “I did fillings and a lot of extractions. Dental infections are very serious. You let a dental infection go and it could be a life-threatening condition.”
The free dental clinic is a major undertaking for the area and one thing that is crucial to the program is volunteer dentists. Misco’s husband who also owns a dental practice in West Middlesex will be one of them this year. Organizers say making it easy for people to come and get the care they need is also crucial to its success.
“There is no registration, I.D. or insurance needed,” said Kateri Linn, Director of Programming at Buhl Regional Health Foundation. “We are looking for dental professionals, hygienists and assistants to join what we call the Smile Squad Team. May 24 is the deadline to register.”
The free clinic is June 8 and 9 at Sharon High School in Sharon. The doors open at 6 a.m. and is first come first serve. For more information, visit BuhlRegionalHealthFoundation.com.