I’m working on a project about health care for my documentary course. I’ve been trying to cover a broad range of topics and one is dental. Dental is often not included in health coverage and is very expensive. People go for years neglecting their dental hygiene even though dental pain can be one of the most nagging and painful injuries to endure.

This two day clinic offered free dental services for patients and performed most dental procedures except root canals. On the second day, people began lining up at midnight to be seen at the clinic, which opened at 7 a.m. It took most people about 8 hours to be seen. Many of the people I spoke with had traveled from rural parts of North Carolina and had not been to a dentist in several years. I was surprised at how happy many of them were to be there even after waiting through the night and having one or more teeth pulled. To learn more about the dental clinics, visit the N.C. Dental Society’s website.