St. Paul Pioneer Press | 01/23/2007 | 2 days of free dental care for needy kids helps, but won't solve the problem:

"Consider this: You are a teenager. You have a toothache but can't afford dental treatment. The toothache is causing such discomfort that you are willing to take four city buses across town to be cared for by a dentist willing to see you for free.

Or consider this: You are an immigrant parent of a first grader. Your child has a hurting mouth but you have no money to pay to see a dentist. You save money for a month to pay for the dental care. And now, your child has such a severe problem that the only solution is to extract the tooth.

These stories seem implausible in this nation with the richest available health care. And yet, these are real-life stories from right here in [98% fluoridated] Minnesota and what we dentists see and hear with increasing frequency."