A clinic serving low- income patients moves to a new facility in Seminole.
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published November 2, 2005
SEMINOLE - A young man dressed in Gator-blue scrubs stands hesitantly at the door trying to catch Dr. Thomas Porter's attention.
The student enters and hands Porter an X-ray. As he describes the procedure - a dental implant - Porter holds the X-ray up to the overhead light. Porter praises the work and tells him to call the patient, an elderly woman, several times to make sure she has had no problems.
Soon after he leaves, a young woman dressed in Gator-blue scrubs arrives, asking Porter to take a look at another patient.
Such is a typical day at the University of Florida's program for advanced training in dentistry. The Advanced Education in General Dentistry program provides a year of postgraduate training, similar to an internship or residency for students who have already become dentists. Rather than set out to immediately practice professionally, the students hone their skills in the program, which serves people who can't afford dental care.
There are eight such programs across the state, including one at the Bay Pines VA Medical Center. The idea to create them germinated in the late 1980s when the University of Florida had the state's only dental school. Another opened about five years ago at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.
Floridians who could not pay for adequate dental care had to drive to UF's clinic in Gainesville, so officials decided that it would be better to open satellite programs across the state. The first opened in Jacksonville in the late 1980s. The second opened in St. Petersburg in 1991 when the Rutland family donated land near St. Anthony's Hospital. Porter, from Texas, was brought in to be the director.
"I'm still the first and only director of the program, at least for now," he said.
The program expanded each year until it outgrew the 7,000-square-foot building near St. Anthony's. This time, Carl Kuttler, president of St. Petersburg College, came to the rescue, offering land at the college's Seminole campus.
A year ago, construction began on the 14,380-square-foot clinic. It opened Sept. 6 and was dedicated in late October. Costing $4.1-million, it has 12 operatories, or examining rooms, and two classrooms equipped with videoconferencing capabilities for distance learning and on-site lectures. The funding came from a combination of sources, including $465,000 in federal funds; $500,000 from Pinellas County; and $100,000 from the city of Seminole. Proceeds from the sale of the St. Petersburg property also went to the program.
In the old facility, the clinic saw more than 7,000 patients a year. Officials expect to see 20,000 patients this year. The clinic has a staff of three full-time faculty members, and more than 25 dentists from across Pinellas County also help at the clinic.
The program is for people who are dental school graduates, but students enrolled in the St. Petersburg College dental hygiene program often have a chance to get hands-on experience at the clinic during their studies.
Patients come from many sources, including social agencies, the Department of Health, Medicaid, emergency rooms and other dentists, Porter said. Fees are on a sliding scale. Seventy percent of the patients are at or below the federal poverty level; they consist primarily of the working poor.
"The only time we don't see someone is if we don't have the space," Porter said.
Residents of south Pinellas who cannot make it to the clinic can visit a university clinic at the Johnnie Ruth Clarke Medical Center, said Lindy McCollom-Brounley, communications director for the UF School of Dentistry.
Recently graduated dentists who are closely supervised by faculty members serve the patients.
That way, both parties benefit, Porter said. The students get intensive training, and the patients get treatments they could not generally afford.
"In a residency, it's focused learning," Porter said. "Our one thing is to educate the residents."
The program receives 80 to 85 applications a year from dental school graduates. Those are pared to 35 or 40 who are interviewed. Of those, a maximum of 12 are chosen for the program.
Patients benefit in other ways, too, Porter said. For one, students spend more time with their patients.
"A lot of the time, the patient gets into the learning thing," Porter said. "They enjoy being part of the learning process. . . . A lot of the patients just enjoy the environment. They like hearing all the information."
