Editorial
Crowning
gift
The Samaritan Center -- the center of much good work in Central Missouri -- is expanding its services.
Thanks to a $736,509, three-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health, the center is extending both the services and hours of its dental clinic.
Two givens of dental health are: oral problems can be very painful; and a proverbial ounce of hygiene is worth a pound of cure.
The grant will allow the center to hire a dental hygienist, assistant and receptionist and to purchase a digital X-ray machine, sterilizer, ultrasonic cleaner and other items.
In addition, the center will expand its hours from three to 15 each week.
This added assistance and modern technology will be available to the 14 area dentists who volunteer at the clinic. As a result of the expansion, the center is seeking additional dentists to volunteer.
Samaritan Center Executive Director Anne Carmichael said that the low-income people who come to the clinic typically wait until they are in pain.
The clinic will offer extraction and fillings to alleviate pain, but also cleaning as a preventative measure.
The Samaritan Center is known largely as a food pantry; it has grown to become the fourth largest among Missouri's 270 food pantries.
But, thanks to the efforts of volunteers and to grants like the one announced Monday, the center is expanding its service. In this case, by providing oral health care and hygiene to Central Missourians in need.