ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Free dental care comes to the Allentown Fairgrounds this weekend, as the MOM-n-PA Dental Mission sets up a temporary clinic offering exams, cleanings, fillings, extractions and root canals to anyone who needs them — no insurance, appointment or identification required.
The clinic runs Friday and Saturday, May 29-30, inside the Agri-Plex at the fairgrounds, 302 N. 17th St. Treatment is offered on a first-come, first-served basis with no preregistration.
Patients can begin lining up as early as 4 a.m., and doors open at 6 a.m. each day. The clinic can register up to 1,000 patients a day before reaching capacity, the organization says, so it urges people to arrive early. Parking at the Agri-Plex is free.
Patients will not be asked for identification or proof of income or insurance, though they will be asked to provide basic contact information and screened for medical conditions that could make treatment unsafe, according to MOM-n-PA.
Each eligible healthy patient is guaranteed one service, with priority given to relieving pain. Spanish and some other interpreters will be available, and anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Childcare is not offered.
The clinic provides cleanings, fillings, extractions, root canals on some teeth and a limited number of dentures, but does not offer crowns, implants, braces, root canals on molars or narcotics, the organization says. Because waits can run several hours, MOM-n-PA advises patients to bring water, food, any recent dental X-rays and something to pass the time.
It is the 13th clinic staged by MOM-n-PA, a program of the Pennsylvania Dental Foundation, and the third time Allentown has hosted the event, following missions in 2014 and 2023. Organizers say this year’s clinic is equipped to treat more than 2,000 patients over the two days.
The event targets a population that often goes without routine care. About 13 percent of Americans have no dental insurance and are less likely to seek treatment, according to the National Association of Dental Plans.
To meet that demand, the organization converts the empty arena into a working clinic of roughly 120 portable dental units, drawing on about 1,000 lay volunteers and dental professionals licensed in Pennsylvania, according to MOM-n-PA. The clinic treats children, adults and older patients alike.
The mission is funded largely through sponsors. United Concordia Dental and the Highmark Foundation, which announced their support this week, have backed MOM-n-PA clinics for 12 years, and their employees volunteer at the events.
The program “fills a crucial gap in public health” for underserved communities, said Roosevelt Allen, chief dental officer at United Concordia Dental, who pointed to uninsured residents as among those least likely to seek care.
Kenya T. Boswell, president of the Highmark Foundation, framed the clinic as a way to remove cost as a barrier to treatment. Access to dental care “shouldn’t depend on where you live or what you can afford,” she said.
Allentown’s two earlier clinics together treated 3,422 patients and delivered nearly $2.4 million in free care, according to United Concordia Dental. Since MOM-n-PA’s launch in 2013, the program has provided more than $11.2 million in free dental services to over 15,700 patients with the help of nearly 9,500 volunteers, the company said.
Organizers have scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Friday at the Agri-Plex, followed by a tour of the facility.
MOM-n-PA urges anyone experiencing severe pain or swelling not to wait for the clinic and to seek immediate treatment, including at an emergency room if they have no access to a dentist.
More information about the clinic is available at mom-n-pa.com.