For Michelle Cashion, 25, dealing with tooth pain over the years has involved a certain amount of ingenuity.

When the pain has gotten bad, Cashion says, she has relied on oral pain relievers, or simply stopped chewing on one side until the problem went away on its own. What she has never been able to do, however, is go to a dentist.

Fortunately, that may be about to change for the Powhatan resident, whose job cleaning houses does not provide her with health insurance.

Cashion spent last Monday morning at the Powhatan Fair Building, where she was able to get on a waiting list to see one of three dentists currently volunteering their time to help Powhatan residents with no health insurance.

Though Michelle Cashion wasn’t facing an immediate problem last Monday, she insisted the program will be a tremendous help to her. Previously, she said, the closest place for her to find dental care was in Richmond, almost an hour’s drive away.

The free dental program, which takes applications at the Powhatan Fair Building on the first Monday of every month, is the brainchild of Connie Moslow, who was also instrumental in bringing the Bon Secours Care-A-Van to Powhatan.

Both those efforts are centered on providing much needed, free medical care for the uninsured. The dental program, which began taking applications last month, does not treat patients on site but instead refers them to one of three local dental offices.

For many uninsured residents, said Moslow last week, it may mean the difference between finding relief and continuing to struggle through the pain of dental ailments.

Though he has not seen the influx of referrals he had expected when signing on as a volunteer with the free dental program, Dr. E. Tracy Spaur said he hopes to be able to help as many patients as possible once word gets out.

“At this point we are trying to see what needs exist and to handle as many as we can,” said Spaur Monday.

Spaur has been involved in other similar programs in the past, including one in Chesterfield, and says patients that come in are generally people who have not been able to see a dentist for some time. Often, he says, they are facing a dental emergency of some kind.

The free dental clinic takes applications from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first Monday of each month.

For more information on either the free dental clinic or the Bon Secours Care-A-Van, call Connie Moslow at 804-379-6484.