We Started With a Simple Belief: Everyone Deserves a Healthy Smile
Dental care in America has always had a divide. On one side are patients with insurance, steady income, and access to private practices. On the other side are the people no one builds a clinic for — those without financial means, the working poor, the person in recovery trying to rebuild their life, the elderly neighbor surviving on a fixed income.
In Southwest Virginia, that divide has always run deep.
Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Center was founded to stand in that gap.
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit community dental clinic located in Abingdon, Virginia. Our mission is straightforward: to provide effective, affordable oral health care to underserved individuals and families across Southwest Virginia. But the work we do every day is about something bigger than dental appointments. It’s about restoring dignity. Relieving pain that has gone untreated for years. Giving someone a smile they aren’t ashamed of — and watching that change their entire trajectory.
Who We Were Built to Serve
We exist for the people who have fallen through the cracks of the traditional healthcare system.
The person who works full time but whose employer doesn’t offer dental benefits, and who makes too much for Medicaid but too little to afford private practice fees. The man or woman in early recovery from addiction who is doing everything right — attending meetings, looking for work, rebuilding relationships — but whose smile tells the story of the hardest years of their life every time they open their mouth. The elderly resident on Social Security who hasn’t seen a dentist in a decade because there simply wasn’t money for it.
We see these patients every day. We know their names. We know their stories. And we know that a toothache isn’t just a toothache when you can’t afford treatment — it becomes an infection, then an abscess, then a systemic health crisis. We know that missing teeth aren’t just a cosmetic issue — they’re a barrier to employment, to confidence, to hope.
We also serve patients that many clinics and programs are not specifically designed to help: individuals striving to be free from alcohol, substance abuse, and homelessness. For these patients, dental care isn’t a luxury. It’s a critical step in reintegrating into society, finding stable employment, and proving to themselves and others that their best days are still ahead.
If you are in pain and have no money, we can help.
How We Make It Work: The Model Behind the Mission
Quality dental care isn’t cheap to deliver. Making it accessible to patients with little or no financial means requires a creative operational model — and we have built one that works.
Our Sliding Fee Scale
Every service we provide is offered on a sliding fee scale. That means the cost of your care is based on your household income and family size — not a fixed price list. Patients who demonstrate financial need pay reduced fees. The less you can afford, the less you pay.
The sliding fee scale isn’t a discount program or a charity offering — it is our fundamental commitment that cost will never be the reason someone in Southwest Virginia goes without dental care.
Our Partnership with Johnston Memorial Hospital
At the heart of how we operate is a strategic partnership with Johnston Memorial Hospital’s Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program. AEGD is a post-doctoral residency program for dentists who have already completed dental school and earned their license. These are not dental students — they are qualified, practicing dentists pursuing advanced clinical training.
Under this partnership, AEGD dental residents treat patients at our clinic under the direct supervision of experienced, credentialed volunteer dental faculty. This model significantly reduces our labor costs, which allows us to pass those savings directly to our patients through reduced fees. At the same time, the residency program benefits from our patient population’s complex clinical cases, providing residents with the comprehensive experience they need to become exceptional general practitioners.
This partnership does something else as well: it brings dentists to Southwest Virginia, a region that has long experienced a shortage of dental providers, and gives some of them a reason to stay.
What We Offer
We provide a full spectrum of dental services, from preventive cleanings and sealants to complex restorative procedures including dental implants, crowns, bridgework, and full dentures. We perform root canals and extractions for patients in acute pain. We screen for oral cancer and blood pressure. We do teeth whitening for the patient who has worked hard to get their life back and deserves to smile freely when they get there.
We offer the same range of services you would expect from a private dental practice — at a cost that works for the people we serve.
A Clinic. A Community Partner. A Catalyst for Change.
We are deeply integrated into the fabric of Southwest Virginia’s social service ecosystem. We partner with recovery centers, homeless shelters, social workers, and community health organizations to connect patients to our care. When a case manager at a recovery program has a client who hasn’t seen a dentist in years, they know to call us. When a social worker is helping someone transition out of homelessness and back into the workforce, restoring that person’s smile is often one of the first calls on the list.
We are not in competition with private dental practices. We serve the patients they cannot. We fill the gap in regional healthcare infrastructure that would otherwise go unfilled.
Every patient who walks through our door and leaves with a healthier mouth, less pain, or a restored smile is one more person better positioned to eat well, work, speak confidently, and fully participate in the community. That is what we mean when we say we are a safety net. We catch people at their most vulnerable, and we help them land somewhere better.
Come As You Are
We have seen patients who haven’t been to a dentist in five years. In ten years. In their entire adult lives. We have seen patients who are embarrassed, who apologize for the state of their teeth before we have even had a chance to take a look. We have seen the tears that come when someone who thought they would never have a real smile again sees themselves in the mirror after treatment.
None of that embarrasses us. None of it changes the quality of care you receive here. You will be treated with professionalism, compassion, and complete respect — regardless of your income, your coverage status, your history, or what your teeth look like when you come in.
All we ask is that you come.
Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Center Abingdon, Virginia 501(c)(3) Non-Profit | Sliding Fee Scale | Serving the Underserved of Southwest Virginia