HSHS St. John’s Hospital and the Central Counties Health Centers (CCHC) now provide emergency dental services to patients four days a week. The CCHC/HSHS St. John’s Dental Clinic is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. The hours have been expanded from two days a week when the emergency dental clinic was established last year. “Access to dental care continues to be one of the top health care needs in the Springfield community,” said Dr. Charles Lucre, president and CEO of St. John’s Hospital. “We are grateful that we can expand these services. Our longstanding partnership with CCHC continues to help us better serve our patients and the region.”

The clinic is staffed by a dentist and dental assistant offering services including exams, fillings and extractions for patients of all ages. It’s located on the 9th floor of the hospital and accessible through a referral from St. John’s emergency department.

“Our existing relationship with St. John’s Hospital allows us to provide care for patients who need dental services, but have transportation barriers. We knew we needed to do more, and that’s why we’re expanding,” said Heather Burton, president and CEO at CCHC.

Since opening in October 2016, the clinic has had over 700 visits and approximately 500 patients. They have performed 477 extractions and 82 surgical extractions.

“Having the dental clinic on-site has made a huge difference for many patients,” said Amy Jones, executive director of emergency services at St. John’s. “Too often we see patients with serious dental pain, and we can only treat the symptoms. We needed a more permanent solution to help our patients, and the on-site dental clinic offers that.”

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