Noah Johnson Daily Press Dentist Michael Highers and dental assistant Jaden Schwartz look inside a patients mouth during the most recent Care Free Dental Clinic at the St. Vincent de Paul Service Center in Escanaba.

ESCANABA – Two local groups have worked together for nearly two decades to provide care-free dental services to residents.

About twice a month, Care Free Dental Clinic of Delta County sets up shop at the St. Vincent de Paul Service Center in Escanaba, offering free dental care to those in need.

“Everyone here is a volunteer,” said Dentist Michael Highers.

“It’s been in operation for 17 years, and there are about 30 volunteers.”

The service center has an exam room with all the necessary equipment in order to perform dental services.

The service is geared towards Delta County residents with no insurance or dental assistance of any kind, providing services to those who need them but may not be able to afford them.

There is no cost for the clinic, but it does ask those to donate what they can to help continue the program.

Highers explained that the services offered are meant to address those who are low-income or lack dental insurance.

“There is a need for access to care that is not met entirely within the profession, and so this is meant to subsidize that need,” he explained.

Highers and dental assistant Jaden Schwartz can spend up to an hour with each patient to discuss their ailments and the best course of action to address them.

Anywhere between four and 10 Delta County residents visit the clinic for dental services such as extractions, fillings and more.

“If we think we can save it, we’ll fill it,” Highers said.

One patient had an unfortunate run-in with a hard candy bar, requiring a dental visit.

Highers and Schwartz were able to talk with the patient and determined they could fill the tooth, and soon enough, the patient could (maybe more carefully) satisfy their sweet tooth.

Highers, who previously assisted other dentists at the clinic, was leading the clinic for the first time.

“This is a good experience. It’s a good thing for the community, and it’s a good thing for the doctors to give back to the community. I look forward to continuing to do this for quite a long time,” Highers said.

For more information, call the service center at (906) 789-1434. The clinic can also be found on Facebook at Care Free Dental Clinic of Delta County, where administrators post when the next clinic is available.

“We want to thank St.Vincent de Paul for hosting us from the start,” Highers said.