On Friday, Stacey Cobine was waiting to get a tooth pulled. “I broke it on Thanksgiving dinner on mashed potatoes, of all things,” she said. Like many people in Humboldt County she’s struggled to get routine dental care.
But Friday, she arrived at the Adorni Recreation Center in Eureka at 6:30 a.m. for a free procedure, part of a pop-up clinic put on by volunteers through California CareForce.
“I used to go every six months to the dentist. I actually liked going to the dentist, to get my teeth cleaned. It felt good,” she said.
But now she’s on Medi-Cal, and said very few local dentists take the insurance. In another dental clinic, she was told she has six cavities including the tooth she’s having pulled — but was told they couldn’t do anything about it because they weren’t taking new patients. “The only dentist that you can go to here is when you need to have a tooth pulled,” she said.
Hundreds waited in line Friday, some for many hours, to get into the clinic. People chose between vision, dental or medical care, and were seen by professionals who volunteer their time to help everyone — regardless of health insurance, immigration status or income. People arrived early Friday morning and waited in line to be seen.
(Sage Alexander/The Times-Standard) Patients chose vision, dental or medical care -- the Adorni Recreation Center's kitchen was turned into a pop-up lab to make glasses. (Sage Alexander/The Times-Standard) The Adorni was transformed Friday i.