Huntsville’s Community Free Dental Clinic held a press conference on Tuesday to remind city officials how important their work is within the community and stressed the need for continued funding from the city’s budget.

The Community Free Dental Clinic opened in 2013 and is the only organization of its kind, providing free dental services to low-income, elderly, and veterans living at or below the poverty level in Madison County. It currently relies on a partnership with UAB’s School of Dentistry for most of its labor needs. Thanks to the UAB resident students, the clinic went from servicing 8-10 patients a day to now providing care to 30-35 patients a day.

The clinic’s co-founder Eugenia Graves was on hand to emphasize that more funding is still necessary for the day to day operations.

“We’re here for the community and we need the community’s help to stay in business,” she stressed. “It costs about $200 to take care of one patient. That’s for supplies and so forth. So we do need the community individuals to step up and give us a donation monthly. If we had a hundred people giving us a hundred dollars a month, just think it takes about $7,000 a month to run the planning.“

Graves also pointed out how the clinic’s work not only serves those in need but also relieves stress on hospitals in the area.

“Well, the people that we serve in the community, they don’t have a dentist. They don’t have insurance, they don’t have money to be able to afford dental care. So they have pretty much used the hospital’s ERs to take care of their dental needs,” said Graves.

“And really they can’t be taken care of because that tooth many times has an abscess and needs to come out. Sometimes we’ve treated people who have had maybe two or three abscesses in a year’s time. This can affect your heart. It can affect your brain. Most people don’t realize how importance of taking care of your mouth and teeth.”

In the five years since the current director Julia Nabors has been with the clinic, she has helped it expand its range of services available for the community to include fillings and other preventative measures on top of extractions and regular cleanings.

The clinic is currently slated to receive $100,000 from the city’s annual budget if approved by the council. Huntsville’s external relations officer Henry Norton also spoke to how important the clinic and other charities in the area are for the city.

“The Mayor recently said that great charities are one of the biggest parts of why Huntsville has been ranked the number one city in America. And we really wouldn’t be here without great folks behind the scenes doing the kind of work that’s done,” said Norton.

For more information, or to donate to the clinic, please visit their website here.