Low-income dental care

Parents with low incomes and small children will soon have another option for dental care in Odessa.

Kool Smiles, an Atlanta-based chain of dental providers aimed at people between ages 1 and 21, is turning a former indoor flea market at 1613 West County Road into its newest location. According to its website, Kool Smiles "uniquely" pursues patients served by Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs.

The Permian Basin is seeing a strong need for low-income children's dental services. Faye Rodriguez, executive director of Catholic Charities, said her organization has seen requests for gas money to help with the drive to San Angelo because families can't find services here.

"It's extremely important to get the dental services while they're young," she said. "We see a lot of adults, as young as their mid-20s and early 30s, who have so many dental issues."

In addition, Dorothy Reyes, executive director of Medical Center Hospital's Family Health Clinic, has said that patients at the dental clinic there can expect to see six-month waits.

Al Burleson of the Embree Group is in charge of building the Odessa Kool Smiles. He said he's built seven clinics for the company across the country.

"They're a good outfit," he said. "They're really good with kids."

On his laptop computer, Burleson shows pictures of some of the clinics he's worked on. The colorful interiors include playgrounds in the waiting room.

The city of Odessa has issued a $451,000 building permit for the remodeling of the space.

The clinic should be open in late 2008 or early next year, Burleson said.

"It won't be any problem," he said. "I'll get it built and move on to the next one."

Efforts to reach an official in Kool Smiles' home office were unsuccessful. But on the company's website, it claims to have high customer satisfaction and low wait times. It also says each office is staffed with bilingual workers.