Sixty uninsured and underinsured adults age 60 and older received free dental screenings and cleanings at the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic during the annual WellMed Screen & Clean event, provided by supervised dental students.
The event in March connected older adults from across the Paso del Norte region with preventive dental care, imaging and faculty-reviewed treatment plans. It also gave students hands-on clinical experience in a community setting.
Maria, a Spanish-speaking patient living within walking distance of the clinic, spent months quietly adjusting her meals because chewing had become painful. Her teeth were failing her, and she couldn’t afford to get them fixed. So she stayed quiet at dinner and made do.
Then one evening, her neighbor’s husband, a custodian at the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic, noticed she seemed withdrawn. After hearing Maria’s story, he told her about the event, and sent her a flyer and phone number via WhatsApp.
“I really thought it was incredible,” Maria said. “I said: No, that’s not true. How could it be free? But yes, I called. And here I am on my way to have a beautiful smile.”
For older residents like Maria, who have long relied on dental care across the border in Mexico, the event offered more than a cleaning.
“So many years of me suffering with my oral health and having to travel to Mexico,” she said, “and all this time this clinic was here. Really, I can see it is a clinic made with love.”
Dental students provided professional cleanings, screenings, fluoride applications and dental imaging during the event. Every patient left with a detailed treatment plan reviewed and approved by a faculty dentist, including Maria, who said she has now started a path of recovery for her oral health.
“It gives me hope,” she said. “And it will give all my neighbors hope too, because all my neighbors are also over 60.”
Many older adults in the Borderplex delay dental care not only because of cost, but because they don’t know low-cost options are available nearby. Routine cleanings and timely treatment can reduce pain, support nutrition and speech, and lower the risk of infections that worsen chronic conditions.
The Screen & Clean events are supported by the WellMed Charitable Foundation, which has invested over $100 million since 2006 in community health initiatives in Texas and Florida. This support allows the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic to serve as a dental home for older adults who need it most.
That gap between proximity and awareness, where a top-notch dental clinic is within walking distance of the people who need it most, is exactly the challenge these events aim to bridge. Opened in 2021, the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic has provided over 30,000 hours of affordable dental care to 18,000 patients.
Maria left her appointment with a treatment plan, a reason to smile and a thank you from the bottom of her heart — not just to WellMed, but to everyone who showed up smiling that morning.
“The smiles in the staff make the difference,” she said. “Everywhere you look, there are people here smiling. That’s what makes you feel peaceful, and with the confidence that people here are going to help you.”
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