ROCKLAND — Earlier this month, Knox County Homeless Coalition's comprehensive youth program, The Landing Place (TLP), hosted Mainely Teeth's mobile dental clinic. They were joined by Dr. Robert Grassi from the Knox Dental Clinic in Rockport.

Mainely Teeth's staff provide critical dental care to low income citizens from around the State of Maine, including cleanings, x-rays, assessments, referrals, and non-invasive dentistry like fluoride treatments. Friday, November 3 the youth at The Landing Place were the beneficiaries of their life, and smile saving services.   

The collaboration came about to address the needs of TLP youth, many of whom have not received regular dental care —  some for years. Quality dental care is out of reach for many people in Maine. Currently, no traditional dental practices accept MaineCare, Maine's insurance plan for low income residents. The only program that accepts MaineCare in the Rockland area is the Knox Dental Clinic in Rockport.

Dr. Robert Grassi, who joined Mainely Teeth at The Landing Place, is the full time dentist at the clinic where he and his staff assess patient's needs, provide x-rays, perform cleanings, and some advanced care, such as fillings.
 
"We so appreciate this collaboration and the hard work provided by Mainely Teeth and Dr. Grassi," said Rich Smalley, MSW, executive assistant at Knox County Homeless Coalition, in a KCHC news release.."Not only did our youth receive compassionate and extremely friendly dental care, but we have created a wonderful collaboration with the founders of Mainely Teeth, Amber and Michael Lombardi. We even discussed plans for them to visit us on a regular basis at The Landing Place, The Hospitality House, and even at our new housing development at Talbot Avenue in Rockland."
 
Visit homehelphope.org to find out more bout the Knox County Homeless Coalition.

To find out more about Mainely Teeth, visit mainelyteeth.org.

Knox County Homeless Coalition breaks cycles of poverty and homelessness through strengths based programs and services, helping individuals and families achieve sustainable independence and providing the next generation the foundation for a hopeful future. Through collaboration and innovation, they seek to address the root causes of homelessness such as lack of affordable housing.  

Since opening its doors, KCHC has helped more than 2500 people and found permanent housing for over 1100. Nearly half of all those served are children and youth. 

Mainely Teeth, a non-profit mobile dental clinic, brings community access to quality dental care. Mainely Teeth’s mission is to break down barriers to oral health care and provide access to quality, compassionate dental care to individuals, families, and communities. Core to this mission is the belief that quality oral health care should be a basic human right, not a privilege.