DuPage dental program expanding as more need it

Roxanne Vertnik already was in poor health and unable to work last year when she stood to lose something else she held dear: her smile.

The Carol Stream woman started experiencing dry mouth, receding gums and other dental issues as a side effect of the drug she was taking to treat a liver problem. The problems with her teeth became so severe that she became self-conscious about how she looked.

“I love to smile. I love to laugh,” the 41-year-old married mother of three said. “But I was constantly covering my mouth or keeping my lips over my front teeth to cover them. Every time I looked in the mirror I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what am I going to do with my teeth?’”

The options appeared limited because — like a growing number of suburban residents — Vertnik’s family didn’t have dental insurance. They lost their coverage after Vertnik’s husband was laid off in late 2009 from his printing job with a national magazine.

Vertnik said the dentists she visited came to the same conclusion: She could end up losing most of her teeth without costly treatments.

“I didn’t want that,” she said. “I knew that my teeth were savable. They were bad, but they weren’t that bad.”

Then a friend suggested Vertnik appeal to the DuPage County Health Department for help.

Vertnik says that advice changed everything.

The health department has been helping people like Vertnik since 1985, when it started a dental referral program that connects low-income, uninsured or underinsured residents with dental care and treatment. Other programs offered by the health department include a dental sealant program for children, a mobile dental van and an urgent care clinic in Wheaton.

Now the health department is in the process of expanding its dental services in response to the changing economy and an increasing number of low-income residents in DuPage County.

“When you look at the poverty growth in DuPage from 2005 to where we are today, there’s been aggressive growth,” said Maureen McHugh, the department’s executive director. “As poverty grows, more people are coming (for help). Our numbers are doing nothing but growing.”

Among those trying to access services are people who don’t have dental insurance because of the economic downturn.

“They’ve had a change in income, and they’re looking for access to care for themselves and, in many cases, their children,” said Mila Tsagalis, the department’s dental health services coordinator. “We also have people who are not quite at the Medicare age that are unemployed and don’t have dental or medical insurance. But they maybe have some aging dental work in their mouth that’s starting to fail.”

Minaz Jasani and her husband both have full-time jobs in the restaurant industry, but their employer doesn’t offer dental insurance.

So when the 35-year-old Glendale Heights woman needed a dental procedure this year, she went to the urgent care clinic, which provides treatment for oral pain, swelling and infection. Patients are charged a sliding scale fee.

Last year, dentists at the urgent care clinic treated more than 2,200 people and performed about 5,000 procedures. A planned redesign of the facility is expected to double its capacity in two years. Work on the expansion, which includes increasing the number of treatment rooms from two to five, is scheduled to start in weeks.

Jasani said there are many people who would benefit from the clinic once it’s been expanded.

“If they had more services and a small fee, I don’t think anyone would refuse it,” she said.

Meanwhile, health department officials are encouraging more DuPage dentists to participate in the referral program, which is called Dental Care Connections.

During a conference last week in Addison, Dr. James Weeks, a Naperville dentist, asked other professionals to consider participating in the program.

“This is a great opportunity for dentists to help DuPage County residents who need oral health care but don’t have access to services.” said Weeks, a member of the DuPage County Board of Health.

Weeks is chairman of a Dental Advisory Board that began this year with goals of expanding dental care service delivery to people in need, increasing participation of community providers and exploring additional funding sources.

The board’s efforts might produce more happy patients such as Vertnik, who says she was overjoyed when a dentist at the urgent care clinic was able to save many of her teeth.

“I just can’t tell you what it’s done for my self-esteem,” she said.

With a smile.