Dental Needs Unmet | Local News | Fox 61 WTIC-TV Connecticut

Dental Needs Unmet | Local News | Fox 61 WTIC-TV Connecticut:

In Connecticut, fluoridation is state-mandated: "At least 1 million Connecticut residents, and possibly as many as 1.5 million — more than one-third of the state — lack dental insurance, according to the state dental association, and a new state medical plan for the uninsured, which includes tens of thousands of children, will not help."

"More than 1,000 of those uninsured people braved driving rain, lightning and long lines in the pre-dawn chill this past weekend to take advantage of Connecticut's Mission of Mercy, the state's first large-scale free dental clinic that opened for two days in Tolland."

"It's overwhelming," said a stunned Williams as he stood in the crowded clinic about 7 a.m. "If there is any doubt in people's minds about the need for greater access to health care, people should come here and see this."

" Of the approximately 3,000 licensed dentists in the state, only about 400 take HUSKY clients. Of those, only about 100 take HUSKY patients as a large part of their business,"