19 January 2023

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The TAG Oral Care Center for Excellence serves first patients

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The Aspen Group celebrated its first patients served after the opening of its state-of-the-art TAG Oral Care Center for Excellence in 2022. The new center has already provided $370,000 worth of free care and will provide additional care to 2,500 underserved patients each year.

The 25,000 sq. ft. clinic opened in July 2022 with the mission to provide comprehensive dental care at no cost to underserved patients in Illinois. To qualify for free care, patients must be Illinois residents who are eligible for Medicaid, or who are uninsured with a household income that is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.

Dr. Arwinder Judge, chief clinical officer at TAG, said in a news release that the first few months of operation at the new center confirm what leaders have always believed. 

“Our mission to break down barriers to care can be transformative in people’s lives. We’ve seen it in the hundreds of patients we’ve already served,” he said. “This clinic will allow us to help fill a critical gap for thousands of underserved patients in Illinois every year and change lives for the better.”

The TAG Oral Care Center provides fillings, extractions, non-surgical periodontal treatment, dental implants and associated restorations, 3D-imaging and scanning, and restorative dentistry, including dentures and implants all at no cost to eligible Illinois patients.

The clinic also provides professional development training courses for qualified dentists. In November, the clinic convened its first training session, with eight fully licensed dental professionals from Illinois learning the most up-to-date techniques and technologies for surgical implant placement and restoration. Participating dental professionals placed a total of 133 implants for 26 patients in December of 2022.

“For many years, I couldn’t find a dental provider who was willing to treat me, and I suffered from immense pain and significant shame about my oral health,” said patient Nathaniel Earsery. “After receiving treatment at the TAG Oral Care Center, it brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face that I could be proud of. The caregivers here are so passionate, and they put extra effort into everything they do. I am so grateful to be in their care.”

The center is currently running at limited capacity until the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation finalizes regulatory rules that allow out-of-state dentists to visit the Oral Care Center. Once the regulatory rules are finalized, TAG intends to expand patient care offerings and training sessions.

Learn more at: https://www.teamtag.com/