ATWOOD – Increased space and staff allowed Rawlins County Dental Clinic to add 473 new patients in the first seven months since moving into its new 6,700-square-foot downtown Atwood facility in August 2024. A second dentist has been hired, and average wait time for appointments has been decreased from four months to 17 days.

Equipment for an accessible treatment room with a wheelchair recliner is expected to be installed at the end of this month. The dedicated sedation room was scheduled to be used for the first time April 22.

More than 12,000 patients receive care through the clinic, which completed 7,900 visits last year with one dentist and two hygienists. The clinic utilized seven recruiting companies to find a second dentist.

The clinic has fought for access to care for 15 years as the only dental safety-net in the state. It has served as a teaching rotation site for three dental universities for the past six years, and now has established an Advanced Education General Dentist program in partnership with Wichita State University, in which an experienced dentist onsite teaches young dentists how to meet the diverse dental needs in a rural community.

The clinic has an agreement with WSU to function as a satellite teaching location. The first student intern at the new building was so excited he took lots of pictures he planned to share with classmates.

In addition to dentistry, a licensed professional mental health counselor has opened her practice in a rented room within the clinic. She has a full schedule of patients.

The new location has 11 clinical treatment rooms. The former location has been sold to the Rawlins County Childcare Building Blocks committee for use as a small child care center.