Good Teeth Don’t Have to Cost An Arm and a Leg

The Harbor Care Dental Clinic gears up for summer with a reminder of the new, comprehensive Medicaid dental benefits for adults. The State of New Hampshire approved the new benefits in April, allowing non-emergency and non-surgical coverage for adults for the first time. These benefits will allow care for 88,000 New Hampshire residents.

Founder Peter Kelleher speaks with Dentist Dr. Neha Gupta.

Dental Assistant Justin Bulman, who has worked for the clinic for five years, said, “You can see the difference it makes in their lives. They’re so grateful and happy.” In keeping with Harbor Care’s mission to always make care affordable, the most vulnerable patients pay only $5 for simple procedures, $30 for more complex procedures, or use a sliding-fee scale that’s based on income. He notes the Health and Wellness Center also offers behavioral and medical services in the same building, making it easier for patients to take care of all of their healthcare needs in one place and at low costs.

Dentist Dr. Neha Gupta said, “Our sliding-fee scale is unheard of” in a brief interview with Founder Peter Kelleher (see the clip). “We all follow our mission, and we always want to do the best for our patients.”

Harbor Care Dental Services, a component of the Harbor Care Health and Wellness Center in downtown Nashua, offers a wide range of services, from cleanings and fillings to crowns, extractions, and dentures, for both adults and children.

Nashua measures the rates of tooth decay among its third graders, and the most recent study stressed the link between poverty and poor dental health. In schools where more than half of students receive subsidized lunch, more than half of students had a history of tooth decay (53.4%). Without accessible dental care, children face long-term health implications. Today, a third of impoverished seniors have lost all their teeth.

For more information or to make an appointment, call (603) 821-7788 or visit the website.