Dental delivery

The Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, one of the largest nonprofit medical groups in the region, has made good on a promise a year in the making to add adult dental care.

The organization, founded to work primarily with migrant and seasonal farm workers, rural poor and other Collier County citizens, will now serve nearly 3,000 adult patients through two dental offices, one in Immokalee and one in Naples. A third office is expected to open in 2018 in north Naples, according to a statement, which will increase the patient count to 3,500 people served by eight dentists. The practice already treats children for dental work, and it operates the Health and Smiles mobile unit, one of the only mobile dental treatment centers in the state.

Funding comes partially from government entities and grants, the release adds, based on the recognition of the link between dental health and overall health.

“Inflammation in the mouth, a proven indicator that something is wrong in the body, can exist without pain,” says Dr. Elizabeth Orr, HCN's Vice President of Dental Services/Chief Dental Officer, in the statement. “Illnesses like cancer, heart disease and diabetes can fester until they become deadly while medical doctors, rarely trained in dental health, fail to see the connection.”

The Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida was founded in 1977. It treats more than 60% of all children in Collier County, and has 21 facilities, from Immokalee to Naples to Marco Island.