Free dental, vision and hearing clinic being held at David L. Lawrence Convention Center
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A free health care clinic is taking over the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the next two days.
More than 1,500 volunteers will be offering free dental, vision and hearing screenings and procedures.
Trisch Connolley of Bloomfield is finally getting the dental work she needs. After all, it's not always easy to make ends meet.
"Health has to come first, but sometimes it can't," Connolley said. "Dental work, like everything else, everything costs a lot of money, you know what I mean? And that's hard, and a lot of people don't have a lot of money after paying rent and bills."
Connolley got to the convention center at 3:30 a.m. Friday to be one of the first in line for the clinic, and she wasn't the only one. Some arrived as early as 9 p.m. Thursday to make sure they got in.
"With this, it makes a big difference, everything they do here to help folks," Connolley said.
This marks the seventh year for the clinic that's hosted by Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh.
People will be able to get free dental services like exams, clinics, minor fillings, root canals and extractions. They'll also be able to get eye and hearing exams along with fittings for free glasses and hearing aids.
The event is for adults and children ages 2 and up. Insurance isn't required and there are no income requirements.
Last year, volunteers served more than 1,700 patients across two days, including conducting more than 9,500 dental procedures and delivering more than $2 million worth of services.
"Those folks that are making that financial decision between say, 'Do I need to feed the kids, do I pay the rent, or do I get dental care?'" said Keith Young, Chairman of Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh. "And that dental care is always the one that falls off when you have a tough financial situation. So that group we really encourage to come down if they need that help, because this is vital care for these folks, especially dental."
Dr. Daniel Pituch, UPMC's chief of oral surgery, cofounded the free event in 2017.
"We strive to be able to care for everybody that comes looking for care and we do our best to get patients out of pain," said Pituch. "We get them out of risk of infection or out of risk of developing a more serious problem."
According to Mission of Mercy, income disparities on top of challenges with inflation and out-of-pocket costs for hearing aids and glasses lead to many people delaying getting the care they need.
Patients who postpone oral care often end up at emergency departments, which are not equipped to provide dental care beyond pain management.
Connolley is forever grateful, not knowing what she would do without the support.
"It means so much, not just to me, to a lot of people, a lot of people," Connolley said.
Services at the clinic are being provided on a first-come, first-served basis both Friday and Saturday.