Daniel said he’s in near constant pain.
The 29-year-old Los Angeles man suffers from three tooth or gum infections, one the result of a root canal and was never completed years ago when he had dental insurance.“If I’m eating, I can’t tolerate cake or ice cream,” said Daniel, a field supervisor for Securitas. “I have to chew very quickly or swallow whole.
Water is the only drink that doesn’t hurt, he said.
Daniel was one of about 100 people waiting to get free dental treatments at California Dental’s clinic at 14322 Telegraph Road in South Whittier.
The dentists — Dr. Kamran Sahabi, president of California Dental, and his partner, Dr. Michael Tafti — conduct free dental clinics about twice a year at each of their seven clinics in Southern California.
The free service includes fillings, emergency root canals, extractions and gum cleanings. The free clinics were offered Wednesday in Whittier, North Hollywood, and Oxnard.
They will be offered Sunday at California Dental’s offices in Los Angeles, Upland, Glendale and Tustin.
Sahabi and Tafti fund the work themselves.
“We see an amazing number of people who need treatment and can’t afford it,” Sahabi said in an earlier interview. “So I decided that we needed to address this serious health issue.”
Luis Lopez, 21, of Whittier, was 22nd in line.
“I’m getting a wisdom tooth pulled,” he said. “It’s cheaper than paying the $200 at any other place, and that doesn’t count X-rays.
“I feel sorry for them (California Dental) because they’ve got all these other businesses hassling them about parking,” he said, noting the signs on parking spaces that said California Dental cars would be towed. “They’re just trying to do something good for the community.”
At the end of the line, Benita Garces of Huntington Park waited with her 11-year-old son, Anthony, and Aracely Reyes, a case manager for The Whole Child, who transported them to the event. Anthony chipped his tooth and it has become infected.
“Now, he’s really in bad pain,” said Garces. “I took him to the emergency room, but they couldn’t help.”
Reyes said the mother has attempted to get treatment for Anthony from several resources, but nobody could help.
“Mom can’t afford (dental care),” said Reyes. “So we found out about this, and we brought them here.”
Back at the front of the line, Daniel didn’t need much time to answer when asked what getting his teeth fixed would mean to him.
“What would it mean to me,” he said, “Pretty much the world.”
Source: Whittier Daily News
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