PEORIA, Ill. – The Illinois Mission of Mercy is providing a free dental clinic Friday and Saturday at the Peoria Civic Center.
Organizers of the event say the goal is to provide dental care for people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to a dentist.
The Illinois State Dental Society Foundation is setting up around 100 dental chairs for cleanings, fillings, extractions and root canals.
So, where does all that dental equipment come from?
“There’s an organization called America’s Dentists Care Foundation that has the equipment, so we rent that from them. And, as soon as they leave Peoria, once we’re done, they’ll go to another spot…they go all over the country,” Dr. Timm Schwartz says.
Schwartz tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan”, Mission of Mercy in Peoria will provide more than $1 million worth of dental work over the next two days.
“We hope to see 1,000 patients each day, we have about 400 dental personnel coming from all over the state of Illinois. And, 600 lay volunteers help escort people around the clinic… in there,” Schwartz says.
Patients will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis between 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Mission of Mercy is prioritizing local veterans as well as young children with the free clinic.
