Low-cost dental work in demand | livingstondaily.com | Livingston Daily

Michigan is 90% fluoridated: "There's so much need — really, an incredible need — for dental care in our area," said Kellogg. "There are so many patients we see that have dental issues that are so painful, they just stay home. There's such a need, with people losing their insurance or even their jobs."

"An elderly couple who can't afford dental care. An unemployed landscaper with no dental insurance. A factory worker on disability. A young couple who used to live the good life and had to cut back on everything when the husband, a bank executive, lost his job.

This was a snapshot of the more than 150 people who lined up for open enrollment at the nonprofit VINA Community Dental Center in Brighton on Monday morning. A large crowd always shows up for the enrollment, which happens a few times a year and is the first step to becoming a patient, but VINA officials said Monday's turnout was the largest since the clinic opened September 2008."

At a free dental clinic in Howell on Saturday, two dentists were able to treat 70 of the 350 people who showed up.

At both events, people lined up early. Residents camped overnight outside the office of Dr. Tom Kellogg, and people began arriving at 1:30 a.m. Monday for the VINA enrollment.

Low-cost dental work in demand | livingstondaily.com | Livingston Daily: