Advocates press for dental care funding

RICHMOND, Va. -- Willie Jackson and Bonnie Johnson know hard times.

Both have been homeless -- Johnson, in fact, lived in the woods near the PRTC bus station until recently -- and both have experienced severe discomfort from bad teeth.

"Sometimes, the pain was so bad, I felt like pulling my own teeth out," the 22-year-old Johnson said Tuesday.

However, she and Jackson got help from Woodbridge's St. Paul United Methodist Church. And, in turn, they helped St. Paul and other congregations spread the word about the importance of dental care for the needy.

The pair -- along with St. Paul Associate Pastor Craig Muffley -- were among at least 200 Northern Virginians who pressed lawmakers to approve a state budget that maintains funding for dental care.

A busload of Prince William area residents -- and more who came in their own vehicles -- traveled to the State Capitol to try to persuade the General Assembly's budget negotiators not to make cuts to dental services proposed by the House of Delegates.

The main cuts would come in funding to free clinics, community health centers, the Virginia Health Care Foundation and local health districts, according to the group Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement.

Leaders with VOICE, which has a dozen member congregations in the Prince William region, showed up to an afternoon press conference clad in yellow T-shirts bearing the group's name and the slogan, "Dental Care Now!"

The significance of dental care in the near term is obvious. But speakers also mentioned how poor oral hygiene can spawn other health problems.

And it can hamper employability, especially if someone with dental needs is up for a job that requires interacting with the public.

In addition to maintaining money for dental care in the state budget, the Rev. Keith A. Savage said VOICE wants to see the Old Dominion take advantage of federal grants under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

"Virginia should not leave federal money on the table," said Savage, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Manassas.

He also implored legislators who attended the rally to take up the cause.

State Sen. Charles J. Colgan told the crowd that lawmakers respond when constituents come calling in this way.

However, the Manassas area Democrat said, "Those that really should hear you are probably not here."

Del. Richard L. Anderson, a Woodbridge Republican, was one of the only members of his party to attend the event.

But he said he would spread the word among his colleagues. He said he saw the danger of poor dental care in other countries -- many of them impoverished -- when he was serving in the Air Force.

"You're truly doing the work of the Good Lord here on this earth," Anderson told the audience, which included his Democratic colleague from Woodbridge, Del. Luke E. Torian, one of VOICE's founders.

The freshman delegate also said he had seen the efforts of St. Paul's congregation firsthand.

Muffley said that in addition to ministering to the homeless, representatives from his church have visited trailer parks in Prince William to see if they could help residents with dental issues.

"It certainly wasn't hard to find people," he said.

Jackson, who gives back to St. Paul by driving a bus on Thursday nights for the church's homeless ministry, said he had only 16 teeth as of last fall.

"The physical pain came and went, but the pain I experienced in the company of others was always there," he said. "I was always uncomfortable, not knowing if my teeth would fall out while talking to people."

But he said that with the help of VOICE, which also has members in Alexandria and in Arlington and Fairfax counties, he now has a new set of dentures.

His story -- and Johnson's -- have happy endings. But Savage told another that's still dire.

A woman named Angela lives at Securing Emergency Resources through Volunteer Efforts' homeless shelter, he said after Tuesday's event.

She has infected teeth, Savage said, but regulations say she can get only one tooth per month pulled at the local free clinic.

So she's considered driving as far away as Winchester -- where there's a larger facility -- to get help.

That would be more than a 100-mile roundtrip.

But, Savage said, "Diseases do not put themselves on hold."

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.