The Aspen Group's Oral Care Center of Excellence in Chicago has provided $370,000 worth of free care to patients since opening in July.
The 25,000-square-foot center provides dental care to underserved Illinois residents, including those eligible for Medicaid or who are uninsured with a household income that does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
The center also offers professional development training courses for dentists, according to a Jan. 6 news release. The center hosted its first session in November, training eight dentists on techniques and technology for implant placement and restoration. Those dentists completed 133 implants for 26 patients in December.
The Aspen Group said the center expects to serve 2,500 underserved patients each year; however, it is operating at a limited capacity as it waits for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to finalize rules to allow out-of-state dentists to work at the center.