 Moses Lake dentist sees kids for free Friday
Harder, clinic give back to community with care
By Matthew Weaver
Herald senior staff writer
MOSES LAKE — Craig Harder celebrates the anniversary of his Moses Lake dental clinic each year by getting to the tooth of the matter.
Friday marks Moses Lake Family Dentistry’s ninth annual Free Children’s Dentistry Day, in conjunction with National Children’s Dental Health Month.
Harder began offering the event to do something to give back to the community for an anniversary of the practice being open.
“For me, the community takes such great care of us and I owe any success to the town itself and the people in it,” he said. “ So anything I can do to give back is a big deal for me. (When the day started), we saw about 30 kids and did a few thousand dollars worth of dentistry. Now we have about 45 kids already scheduled and more to come. The last couple years, we’ve done $10,000 to $12,000 worth of free work.”
 The event includes free examinations, X-rays and cleanings.
“Taking care of as much necessary work as possible on kids,” Harder said.
The patients must be under the age of 18.
“If the family has a need, doesn’t feel they can afford to come in under normal circumstances for care, we’ll welcome them in and do the best we can for them on that day,” Harder explained.
The day begins at 8 a.m. and goes until the last patient is seen. Harder said the practice used to divide up into two sessions, but has determined it can get the majority of work done in five hours.
“We see a lot of these kids now as their situation changes — the families come in as regular patients and we have so many mothers that write us after the fact,” Harder said. “They tell us how much it meant to them to be able to get their kids in.”
The majority of the work includes anything which can be done within an hour, Harder said. More intensive cases are referred to specialists or other referral sources.
The first year the practice offered the event, Harder said, a mother revealed she was going to sell her wedding ring because she knew her children needed a lot of work done, until she saw an advertisement in the newspaper and brought them in.
“There’s a lot of rewarding things for us,” Harder said. “For me, if we can again provide care to several families that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to get their kids in, if we can take care of them and get a smile on their face, then it’s a great success for us. It doesn’t take much on our side of it. We just want to be able to provide these kids a great foundation for better oral health.”
Appointments can be made by calling 509-765-4351.
|
