Free 2-day dental clinic opens at Pomona Fairplex

POMONA, Calif. (KABC) -- A free two-day dental clinic opened its doors on Friday at the Pomona Fairplex, providing dental care at no charge for thousands of Californians.

The clinic opens at 5:30 a.m. at 1101 W. McKinley Ave. Building 4. No identification is required and parking is free. There is no exact closing time, but treatment is expected to last until at least 5 p.m.

Approximately 2,000 patients were expected to receive care during the event.

The event is hosted by the California Dental Association. Treatments include extractions, fillings, cleanings and dentures. Patients will be seen on a first-come-first-serve basis.

A doctor working at the event said he's doing more extractions than he would like.

"We're not preventing dental decay very well in this state, so a lot of these teeth have gone beyond where we can save them. So we take out way, way more teeth than we would really like to," the doctor said. He estimated that he and other doctors will likely extract close to 1,000 teeth.

He added that his goal as an oral surgeon is to get rid of pain and get rid of infection.

The CDA says the Denti-Cal benefits that were partially restored earlier this year are not enough, and many people are still going without the dental care they need.

After receiving treatment at the event, patients undergo basic oral health education.