From St. Louis Public Radio (image from nextSTL):
With three floors and 92 chairs for dental appointments, the new St. Louis Education and Oral Health Clinic has the equipment to fill some of the region’s oral health needs.
Kirksville’s A.T. Still University built the $24 million facility in the Lafayette Square neighborhood of St. Louis to train third-year students in its recently established dentistry school.
The school has moved 42 trainees from Kirksville to St. Louis who will begin seeing patients in July. The clinic’s first appointments, however, are scheduled for June 15.
“Oral healthcare is extremely important, particularly to an underserved community,” said Dr. Kim Perry, an associate dean of ATSU who will oversee dental operations at the new building. “Oral health impacts their ability to work, and go to school and provide for their families.”
The site at 1500 Park Ave. will be managed by Affinia Healthcare, the network of federally qualified health clinics formerly known as Grace Hill. Federally qualified health centers frequently serve patients who are insured through Medicaid or Medicare, and offer appointments to uninsured patients at reduced rates.
The facility includes:
- Six dentistry chairs devoted to urgent care.
- Rooms to accommodate patients who use wheelchairs.
- Specialty services like oral surgery, dental prosthetics.
- A third floor, yet unused, which could become classrooms or additional clinic space.
Continue reading: New dental clinic will serve thousands of low-income patients
