JEFFERSON CITY — Senator Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis, has worked hard in the upper chamber to ensure that Missourians have access to the best health care that can be offered and is pleased to hear of the groundbreaking of a new dental clinic that will benefit countless citizens who walk through its doors.

“I am thrilled to share the news of the groundbreaking for the A.T. Still University Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health’s new dental education and clinic,” Sen. Keaveny said. “Dental health services are just as important as medical services, as so many diseases can be better managed with good oral health.”

The ground breaking will be held at 1:30 p.m., Friday, April 25, at 1500 Park Avenue (corner of Truman Parkway and Park Avenue) in the City of St. Louis.

The clinic is a partnership between A.T. Still University and Grace Hill Health Centers. The new facility will help provide services for an estimated 9,600 people, on a sliding-scale basis each year.

A.T. Still, the namesake and founder of A.T. He advocated a healthy lifestyle of exercise, diet, and positive thinking coupled with keeping the anatomy unobstructed for nutrition to flow in and waste to be removed was the best prevention for disease. Although he was ridiculed and his ideas deemed strange, they represent standard health care practices today.  Dr. Still was recently inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians.

Missouri Mission of Mercy will host a free dental event May 2-3 at Chaifetz Arena on the St. Louis University campus. Clinic doors open at 5:30 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. Patients are seen on a first-come first-serve basis and are asked to bring any medical and baby supplies they will need for the day, along with a days supply of any medications, and a medication list.

For more information regarding the groundbreaking event or the clinic call the Missouri Foundation for Health at (314) 345-5573 or Sen. Keaveny’s office at (573) 751-3599.  For more information about the free dental event call the Missouri Dental Association at (573) 634-3436.