Need healthcare, will travel: Mobile clinics provide free dental, vision and medical care

How far would you travel for a taste of socialized medicine? This week, hundreds of Ohioans and visitors from nearby states will congregate in the parking lot of St. Xavier High School – nestled in the Finneytown neighborhood just north of Cincinnati – in search of free medical, dental, and vision care at a Remote Area Medical pop-up clinic.

Though the clinic’s doors won’t open until 6 a.m. on Saturday, July 11, vehicles will trickle into the parking lot of the private, all-boys’ school throughout the week in the hopes of securing one of the limited spots available for the most coveted service: dentures. The flood of vehicles for other services won’t start in earnest until late Friday, as the majority of attendees attempt to minimize hours spent sleeping in (and running) their cars this weekend. 

Remote Area Medical (RAM) was founded in Rockford, Tennessee in 1985 to offer free healthcare to isolated communities in the Amazon rainforest. The nonprofit realized the extent of the need in their own backyard almost immediately, holding the first U.S. clinic 80 miles away in Sneedville, Tennessee. 

“We’ve cut back in places like Guatemala and Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Africa simply because we’re overwhelmed with the need here,” founder Stan Brock said in the 2011 documentary “Remote Area Medical.” “Welcome to America.”

A legendary workaholic and beloved humanitarian, Brock died in 2018 at one of RAM’s donated offices, where he slept on a bedroll and showered with a garden hose. Remembered as a kind of “medical monk,” Brock lived as an eccentric singularly devoted to filling the gaps in the broken healthcare system of the richest country on Earth, and the organization he founded has upheld this legacy.

Speaking to The Independent in 2014 during a rare return to England (where he was raised), Brock said that everywhere RAM operated a clinic in the United States has had a big turnout. “They’re all there to see the dentists, they’re all there to see the optician,” he said. “And even if they don’t know it because they’re so preoccupied by the pain in their teeth, they all need to see the doctor, too.”

65 percent of RAM’s patients request dental service, 30 percent request eye exams and glasses, and only 5 percent request medical care. Half of the patients seen by RAM are uninsured because they can’t afford the premiums, while the other half are insured but can’t afford their deductibles. The nonprofit hosts approximately 90 weekend popup clinics every year, with each clinic providing between $100,000 and $500,000 in medical care. 81 percent of RAM’s operating budget is paid for by individual donors who make modest monthly contributions.

Pricemysmile.com estimates that the average cost of a dental filling in Columbus is $241, while an adult dental cleaning with fluoride costs $136. A full set of dentures will set you back $3,340, or roughly the price of a 2009 Honda Civic with more than 200,000 miles on it. For comparison, a 2009 Honda Civic getting 29 miles per gallon and filled with gas at the local average price of $3.63 per gallon (as of July 5, 2026) could make the 204 mile round trip from Columbus to St. Xavier for $25.54 in gas; this does not factor in the cost of hours spent idling over sizzling asphalt, with the forecast calling for rain and low- to mid-80 degree temperatures this weekend.

In late May, I traveled by bus and train from Columbus to Big Rapids, Michigan to have a painful tooth filled at the three-point line on Ferris State University’s basketball court. It was only RAM’s second clinic held in Michigan, where more than 480 volunteers provided more than 270 patients with at least $284,000 in free healthcare. 

Like nearly every RAM attendee I spoke with there, I first heard about the clinic from a “60 Minutes” segment that aired in April. The segment was hosted by 37-year CBS veteran Scott Pelley, who would be controversially ousted by the new parent company, Paramount Skydance, just days after the Big Rapids clinic.

Whether or not you’ve seen the segment, here are ten things I think you should know if you’re planning to attend the clinic at St. Xavier’s (or any other future RAM event) in the hopes of making the experience as painless as anything involving dental work can possibly be:

1. Updated clinic details can be found on the website. 

The event page for each clinic contains important information, as does the Frequently Asked Questions page. When I couldn’t find the answer to one of my questions, I called their hotline at 865-579-1530 and spoke to a very helpful operator. That desk is staffed from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2. Every clinic offers basic dental, vision, and medical care, as well as preventative screenings and education. 

Occasionally other specialists may be available; for example, there was a podiatrist seeing patients on Sunday at the Big Rapids clinic. Dentures are only offered at select clinics, such as at St. Xavier’s. When RAM comes to East High School in Columbus later this year (November 7 and 8), the denture clinic will not be offered.

3. Attendees who arrive days in advance are specifically there for dentures. 

The person who traveled furthest to the Big Rapids clinic drove 1,102 miles from Biloxi, Mississippi and arrived on Tuesday, four days before the clinic doors opened.

4. Spots for dental and vision care are limited by the number of volunteers available, so patients are typically asked to select one or the other. 

Patients are invited to get back in line to access additional services, though this may not be necessary depending on volunteer availability. After my problem tooth was handled, there were so few people waiting for a hygienist (and so many waiting for extractions) that I was able to get in for a cleaning right away.

5. RAM does NOT offer same-day extractions and denture fittings. 

One of the program’s most enduring myths is that patients can have teeth extracted and be fit for dentures the same weekend; RAM’s policy requires a six-week recovery after extractions due to swelling and the very limited availability. Each denture is digitally sculpted at the home office in Tennessee from scans taken at the clinic, then those files are relayed back to a trailer at the clinic to be 3D-printed and finished on Saturday and fitted on Sunday. They don’t have the resources to make dentures that may not fit in a few weeks’ time, and will encourage patients who need both extractions and dentures to make plans to attend a second clinic at least six weeks later.

6. There will be freshly serviced portable toilets available around the parking lot. 

Attendees may be offered limited access to indoor toilets before the clinic officially opens at the discretion of the facility’s management, but don’t count on it.

7. You don’t need a car to attend RAM, though it helps. 

There is no climate-controlled shelter available until the doors open on Saturday at 6 a.m. Some walk-ins bring tents, while others arrive so late at night that they don’t have long to wait before the clinic begins (such as the large group of Amish families who attended the Big Rapids clinic). I had foolishly intended to brave the wind and sleep in a packable camp chair. Fortunately, my nearest neighbor let me warm up in the backseat of her old Jeep.

8. Moving your vehicle from its parking space forfeits your place in line, so come prepared to wait. 

If you need a break from the parking lot at St. Xavier’s, you may find respite in a wooded walk along the 0.54 kilometer Fred Middendorf, S.J., Nature Trail rumored to be north of the athletic fields. (Unfortunately, the school is unlikely to offer visitors a dip in their Olympic-size swimming pool.)

9. An evening in a RAM clinic parking lot feels a lot like tailgating. 

Bring extra food and snacks and/or a deck of cards and prepare to meet new people. I lucked into a ride back to Ohio from a fellow patient who I first met when he rolled up on a skateboard with half a watermelon cut into spears and offered me some. That evening, he dropped the pearl of wisdom, “Don’t let your mental affect your dental,” a phrase which has been motivating me to floss even when I’m sad.

10. Don’t be too embarrassed to ask for help. 

RAM’s volunteers are there to make sure you get the care you need and are some of the kindest people you will ever meet. The force that brings hundreds of patients to every clinic – chiefly, the crumbling American healthcare system – is the same force that motivates hundreds of volunteers to spend each weekend offering care and compassion.