Inside Bay Area - IBA - Home:

San Mateo, California:


"In one of the wealthiest counties in the state, residents live in chronic pain due to lack of access to dentists, Silvestri noted.

'You don't have to go to Guatemala or Mexico,' she said. 'It's right here in our back yard.'

Silvestri said she has seen patients who have been without most of their teeth for up to 15 years. A survey of participants in the new program found that 32 percent hadn't seen a dentist in more than five years; Robinson-Gates said she hadn't visited one for 10 years before her troubles began."