By Carla Burgess | March 2004

• 1: Introduction
• 2: Wyo Clinic and Its Offshoots
• 3: Beyond Wyo
• 4: Brighten & Build Program
• 5: Members of the N.C. Association of Free Clinics
• Download the FULL article as a

Introduction

Click to enlarge

Retired police officer Melvin Bowman settles into a chair in the waiting room of the Wyo Dental Clinic. An imposing man, he moves slowly due to the brace on his leg. His foot is damaged from complications of diabetes. He has survived three strokes and back surgery. The financial burden has been overwhelming for Bowman, 65, who retired in North Carolina to be near his wife’s family. So when he began suffering from a toothache, it was a pain he decided he’d have to live with.

While working in law enforcement for Anheuser-Busch in Williamsburg, Va., Bowman had access to affordable dental care. Since leaving, he hadn’t seen a dentist in 15 years. Then one morning at breakfast, he saw a TV news story about the Wyo clinic, a place on the Yadkin and Davie county line west of Winston-Salem where people in the community could receive free dental treatment. He called and got on the waiting list.

Since his first visit, Bowman has had two teeth pulled and two filled. The volunteer professionals at the clinic also have treated his wife. Bowman says Keith Phillips, the clinic’s founder, is a “gentle dentist,” adding softly: “If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”