free dental work, anyone?
Wow. What an interesting day/night I just had.
Ok. So. There was this free dental clinic at Hedgesville High School this weekend that people could go to and get their teeth checked out as well as get some work done...all for free. So, Adam I decided late Friday night that we should go to it because I have no insurance and I knew that I had a few cavities that I could get filled. We left the house at about 4:15 a.m. to go wait in line for the doors to open at 6:00 a.m. because we knew that would be a lot of people going and that they would go early because the clinic only said that they would accept 500 people on Saturday. So, we went to the school and got in the line -- we weren't too far back, from what we could tell -- and sat there for a long time. [Note: we hadn't slept before we went to the school, so we had been up since Friday afternoon at this point.] They finally opened the doors around 6:00 and started letting people in and giving them numbered armbands. I ended up with #279, which tells you how many people had gotten there before we did around 4:30 a.m.! We were taken into an auditorium where we sat FOREVER and I contemplated leaving MANY times because I was so tired and it was taking so long...but we stayed. They passed out some granola bars and brought around water, which was really nice of them, and gave me a little energy boost for awhile.
Finally, we were taken into the next room where we waited some more to be screened to make sure we were ok to have dental work done. We waited there for awhile before being taken to another area to wait before actually being screened. I finally got my screening done and also had to go get a bloodstick done since some people in my extended family have diabetes. Everything was fine, so I was moved into a new room to wait for triage so that dentists could check us out and see what our teeth looked like to decide where to go from there. I didn't wait too long to go into triage. The dentist saw those same cavities I knew that I had in my front bottom teeth and sent me on to get an x-ray. After the x-ray, I was sent to wait in the 'filling and restoration' line, which then moved to another waiting area right outside the gym doors. During this time, the volunteers passed out bagged lunches, so that gave me another little energy burst (as I still had not slept since Friday afternoon and it was now noon on Saturday). I waited in this line for a very long time... While I was sitting there, a girl walked past me into the gym (who was in the entrance line behind me at 4:30 a.m. and I had overheard has seizures sometimes) with her boyfriend, looked at the girl sitting next to me -- her friend -- with a terrified look on her face, walked about five more steps, and had a seizure. (I have to say, I have never seen someone have a seizure, and it is so scary to watch... The poor girl was taken out in a wheelchair by paramedics soon after, according to Adam.)
At this point, I was taken into the gym to actually have my work done. It was 2:00 p.m. when I was taken to the chair and numbed up so they could begin working on my SEVEN CAVITIES (eeek!) in my front bottom teeth. I was so tired by this point that I actually fell asleep during that first hour or so. This turned out to be a very good thing since I ended up being in the chair for a little more than 2 1/2 hours!!!
[I just want to say that the dental student who worked on me all that time was amazing. He didn't have to fill all those cavities, but he did, and I really appreciate what he did for me. I also had a chip on one of my front bottom teeth, and he ended up reshaping it so that there is no chip there now. I am just so grateful for this man. I wish I knew his name so I could thank him again. He was amazing, just awesome!]
So, at about 4:45, I walked out of the building with my goodie bag and my newly filled, restored, and reshaped teeth!
I have to say that this free dental clinic was absolutely incredible. Despite the lack of sleep and very long day of waiting, it was an amazing experience. It would have taken so much money for me to get seven cavities filled and my chipped tooth reshaped, and this people did it for no money whatsoever. Without this clinic, I wouldn't have been able to afford to get this work done for a very long time, and I probably would have ended up with a much bigger problem than just having seven cavities and a chipped tooth by time I had the money to be able to do that. I am so grateful to all the volunteers and all the professionals for making this day possible, and I plan to write the organization a letter saying just that. I just feel so lucky to have been one of those 500 taken in on Saturday, and there's no way I can possibly thank these people enough. If anyone else is interested in this organization and their clinics, the organization is called Mission of Mercy (M.O.M. for short), and I believe they sponsor free clinics in different states. The website for the specific branch of this organization that put on this clinic is http://www.healthysmileswv.org/, and I encourage you to check it out if you are interested. The next free dental clinic is scheduled for July 31 and August 1 in Parkersburg, WV at WVU-P: http://www.movhd.com/dental. I strongly suggest going to this clinic or volunteering at it because it was a great experience for me.
After we left, we picked up some food and headed home. I went to sleep right after eating and just woke up at about 4:00 a.m. Adam was so great during this whole thing... He waited with me up until I went into the screening and stayed in the car in the parking lot the whole rest of the time to wait for me. He was so great... Not many people would be willing to wait and nap in a hot car all day for someone else to get so much work done on their teeth. I love you, Adam, and I want to thank you so much for doing that for me. I really, really, really appreciate it. :)
So, that was my very different Friday and Saturday. What did everyone else do this weekend? ;)
xoxoxo.
Ok. So. There was this free dental clinic at Hedgesville High School this weekend that people could go to and get their teeth checked out as well as get some work done...all for free. So, Adam I decided late Friday night that we should go to it because I have no insurance and I knew that I had a few cavities that I could get filled. We left the house at about 4:15 a.m. to go wait in line for the doors to open at 6:00 a.m. because we knew that would be a lot of people going and that they would go early because the clinic only said that they would accept 500 people on Saturday. So, we went to the school and got in the line -- we weren't too far back, from what we could tell -- and sat there for a long time. [Note: we hadn't slept before we went to the school, so we had been up since Friday afternoon at this point.] They finally opened the doors around 6:00 and started letting people in and giving them numbered armbands. I ended up with #279, which tells you how many people had gotten there before we did around 4:30 a.m.! We were taken into an auditorium where we sat FOREVER and I contemplated leaving MANY times because I was so tired and it was taking so long...but we stayed. They passed out some granola bars and brought around water, which was really nice of them, and gave me a little energy boost for awhile.
Finally, we were taken into the next room where we waited some more to be screened to make sure we were ok to have dental work done. We waited there for awhile before being taken to another area to wait before actually being screened. I finally got my screening done and also had to go get a bloodstick done since some people in my extended family have diabetes. Everything was fine, so I was moved into a new room to wait for triage so that dentists could check us out and see what our teeth looked like to decide where to go from there. I didn't wait too long to go into triage. The dentist saw those same cavities I knew that I had in my front bottom teeth and sent me on to get an x-ray. After the x-ray, I was sent to wait in the 'filling and restoration' line, which then moved to another waiting area right outside the gym doors. During this time, the volunteers passed out bagged lunches, so that gave me another little energy burst (as I still had not slept since Friday afternoon and it was now noon on Saturday). I waited in this line for a very long time... While I was sitting there, a girl walked past me into the gym (who was in the entrance line behind me at 4:30 a.m. and I had overheard has seizures sometimes) with her boyfriend, looked at the girl sitting next to me -- her friend -- with a terrified look on her face, walked about five more steps, and had a seizure. (I have to say, I have never seen someone have a seizure, and it is so scary to watch... The poor girl was taken out in a wheelchair by paramedics soon after, according to Adam.)
At this point, I was taken into the gym to actually have my work done. It was 2:00 p.m. when I was taken to the chair and numbed up so they could begin working on my SEVEN CAVITIES (eeek!) in my front bottom teeth. I was so tired by this point that I actually fell asleep during that first hour or so. This turned out to be a very good thing since I ended up being in the chair for a little more than 2 1/2 hours!!!
[I just want to say that the dental student who worked on me all that time was amazing. He didn't have to fill all those cavities, but he did, and I really appreciate what he did for me. I also had a chip on one of my front bottom teeth, and he ended up reshaping it so that there is no chip there now. I am just so grateful for this man. I wish I knew his name so I could thank him again. He was amazing, just awesome!]
So, at about 4:45, I walked out of the building with my goodie bag and my newly filled, restored, and reshaped teeth!
I have to say that this free dental clinic was absolutely incredible. Despite the lack of sleep and very long day of waiting, it was an amazing experience. It would have taken so much money for me to get seven cavities filled and my chipped tooth reshaped, and this people did it for no money whatsoever. Without this clinic, I wouldn't have been able to afford to get this work done for a very long time, and I probably would have ended up with a much bigger problem than just having seven cavities and a chipped tooth by time I had the money to be able to do that. I am so grateful to all the volunteers and all the professionals for making this day possible, and I plan to write the organization a letter saying just that. I just feel so lucky to have been one of those 500 taken in on Saturday, and there's no way I can possibly thank these people enough. If anyone else is interested in this organization and their clinics, the organization is called Mission of Mercy (M.O.M. for short), and I believe they sponsor free clinics in different states. The website for the specific branch of this organization that put on this clinic is http://www.healthysmileswv.org/, and I encourage you to check it out if you are interested. The next free dental clinic is scheduled for July 31 and August 1 in Parkersburg, WV at WVU-P: http://www.movhd.com/dental. I strongly suggest going to this clinic or volunteering at it because it was a great experience for me.
After we left, we picked up some food and headed home. I went to sleep right after eating and just woke up at about 4:00 a.m. Adam was so great during this whole thing... He waited with me up until I went into the screening and stayed in the car in the parking lot the whole rest of the time to wait for me. He was so great... Not many people would be willing to wait and nap in a hot car all day for someone else to get so much work done on their teeth. I love you, Adam, and I want to thank you so much for doing that for me. I really, really, really appreciate it. :)
So, that was my very different Friday and Saturday. What did everyone else do this weekend? ;)
xoxoxo.