Among those at the two-day event at the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center on McAllister Street was Leticia Brown, a 34-year-old elder-care worker and mother of four. She'd put medical and dental care for her kids first, and was now paying a price - for weeks, she had been eating soft food because nerve pain in a molar was so intense she could hardly chew.
"I went to a dentist two months ago and had two molars removed, but I think they cracked a third, and it needs to come out," she said. Her eating habits hadn't helped.
"I'll be honest," she said. "I used to eat a lot of candy - six or seven candy bars a day. I've cut down. I want to save the teeth in my mouth."
The clinic, operated by the 10-year-old Adventist Medical Evangelism Network, brought more than two dozen doctors, dentists, nurses, dental hygienists and dental students to San Francisco from across the state to care for the walk-ins, said Danny Kwon, executive director of the network's branch in Auburn (Placer County).
"We've done mission trips abroad," he said, "but a couple years ago came to the realization there was just as big a need in America."
Among those who volunteered their services were Dr. Jeri Shepherd, a dentist at the California Men's Colony, a state prison in San Luis Obispo, and dental students from Southern California's Loma Linda University. Patterson Dental in Concord loaned a specialized machine that makes crowns on the spot to allow root canals and crowns to be handled in one sitting.
Because the event, technically branded as a health fair, was operated by a group with a Christian affiliation, there was a prayer table for anyone who wanted someone to pray with, and some discussion of Seventh-day Adventist principles.
"We believe we're accountable for what we put in our bodies, because it has a profound effect on how we think, feel and treat other people," said Dr. Steve Mulder, an anesthesiologist from the San Luis Obispo area, who consulted with patients on hypertension, weight management and diabetes. "It's a spiritual decision, because it profoundly affects our spirits, morals and attitudes."
Patients of any religious affiliation (or none) were welcomed at the door and, after registering, met with volunteers to assess their ailments. Patients had their medical histories and blood pressure taken.
Dental patients had X-rays taken with machines the size of a cell phone, and then advised about the simplest course of action to relieve their mouth pain.
Most of the patients were long overdue for a trip to the dentist, said Kwon, noting the treatment ranged from teeth cleaning and fillings to extractions and root canals. To keep things moving, dentists treated only the tooth or problem most severely in need of care, even if multiple fillings were needed.
One San Francisco preschool teacher, who declined to give her name, showed up to get her teeth cleaned after skipping regular maintenance for two years.
"I went to the dentist, where they said I needed deep cleaning," she said, "and even with insurance, it was going to be $1,000, so I said, 'Bye!' "
Although the clinic operated from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., patients who arrived early were the lucky ones. Anyone who arrived after 10 a.m. was turned away, so that those who'd been checked in were certain to be treated by the end of the day.
Some patients waited for several hours for their turn. Appointments took 45 minutes to an hour to complete.
Dentists got something out of working on desperate patients, too. "If I can put a smile on their face and get them out of pain, that's wonderful," Shepherd said.
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