Note from Fluoride Action Network:
•• Salina, located in Saline County, has been fluoridated since September 1969.
•• “A recent report by K-State examining child and family well-being in Kansas showed that Saline County particularly was in the top five Kansas counties for childhood poverty at just over 28 percent and was also higher than the state and national averages in birth rate for unmarried women at 48 percent. More Kansas county data can be found by accessing the report.”  Source and full report.

Volunteers gathered Saturday night to celebrate completion of the 14th Kansas Mission of Mercy free dental clinic at the Salina Bicentennial Center.

“We’re hashing out the day, hearing everybody’s stories of the patients and all the life changes we made for them,” said Dr. Cindy Reed, a Salina orthodontist.

With $120,000 in donations, volunteers performed $1.2 million in dental work for 1,400 patients.

A dozen local dentists organized the event, and 133 dentists participated. There also were 103 dental hygienists, 187 dental assistants and 676 volunteers involved.

“We extracted 3,118 teeth, did 1,466 fillings and treated 171 children,” Reed said. “We had a really smooth event.”

While some patients were turned away Friday, all patients were seen Saturday, she said.

“We had a great event,” Reed said. “We want to thank the community for all of those donations, for the time they all put in, and for the patients who waited in line. Their attitudes were great overall.”

The 15th Kansas Mission of Mercy will be during the last weekend of February 2015 in Topeka.