KINSTON, N.C. — Dentists have been busier than ever this year trying to catch up on appointments that were pushed aside during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Francisco Rios is visiting schools in hopes that the kids can get much-needed care.

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Francisco Rios brings his mobile dental clinic to Kinston schools every year

  • It helps students get dental care they need

  • He works at Kinston Community Health Clinic

  • His goal is to help kids form good dental habits at a young age

For some of his young patients, Rios' clinic is the first time they've ever been to the dentist.

Rios works with the Kinston Community Health Center to provide low-cost dental care.

“Sadly, most of our patients don't have any other place to go for whatever reason,” Rios said. ”Because there are no appointments available or because dental services are so expensive.”

Every year he and his team try to visit each of the elementary and middle schools in Kinston.

“We want to make it fun for them and easy,” Rios said. “They feel more comfortable [at the school] when they are with their friends or their peers.”

After a year and a half of not coming to schools due to COVID-19, Rios and his team are back with their mobile clinic in the classrooms. A big part of his job is getting kids to care about their health.

“Your teeth are so important because they help you chew your food,” Rios told the kids. “And what else do they give you? A smile. And your smile is so important because it is what you present first everywhere you go.” 

Rios had his own dental practice for 25 years back home in Puerto Rico. Before he could retire, he got this job, packed up and moved to the United States.

“I came here basically with two suitcases and figured out how we're doing, and I like it. And it's been eight years,” Rios said.

He can't imagine doing anything else.

“When I see the happy smile that they have whenever they leave here,” Rios said. “Yes, that's the best or the most rewarding thing that we can see.”

Rios and his staff agree that working with these kids and the underserved population in Kinston brings so much more meaning to their jobs.

“All this is just wonderful,” dental hygenist Darlene Harris said. "I feel like I'm on a mission. You know, I'm in the mission field. It's so rewarding.”

Harris has worked with Rios since February.

“I love what I do as a profession,” Harris said. “I just enjoy dental hygiene as much today as the day I started 38 years ago. That's just how much I enjoy working with people and fixing their smiles one at a time.”

Rios says their main clinic is booked out three months in advance.

“At the end of the day, we are probably tired,” Rios said. “But we are satisfied with what the services that we provide because, like I tell my staff every day, I just try to help one person every day get that extra step. And we do much more than that, and we help a whole bunch.”

Rios says their school clinic is funded by a grant from the Duke Endowment Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield. These kinds of community health clinics can be found all across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.