Many without dental insurance wait overnight for free dental care

According to a report from the Omaha World-Herald, people began lining up Thursday night and waited almost 10 hours for the doors to a two-day free dental care clinic to open in order to get access to a dentist. Organizers expect that more than 1,000 patients will be seen by the 140 volunteer dentists available before the doors close Saturday evening

Many of those in line do not have dental insurance or regular access to affordable dental care, according to the news source, noting a man who slept overnight in his car with his wife so they could get a teeth cleaning and a root canal, respectively.

Brief, free volunteer clinics such as this one have become more common over the last few years as many Americans have difficulty finding access to adequate dental care.

Some national estimates put the number of people in the U.S. without dental insurance as high as 100 million. Almost half, 44 percent, of families who earn less than $35,000 annually put off dental care for their children in the last year due to financial hardship, according to recent study.