King’s Fork Middle School was a bustling center of activity on Saturday as hundreds of volunteers turned out to provide free dental care to about 500 uninsured and underinsured people from the area.

Dentists, hygienists and assistants were joined by administrative staffers and other volunteers from civic and health care organizations to provide everything from extractions and cleanings to fillings and restorative work. There were even free sets of dentures available to about 20 lucky winners in a “denture raffle” that took place as part of the effort.

Even when they have access to health care, many of the area’s poorest residents find that they do not have access to dental care, and they wind up ignoring or postponing important oral health checkups and work. Some are able to get help at the dental clinic in the Western Tidewater Free Clinic or at other, similar facilities, but Saturday’s turnout at the Virginia Dental Association’s Missions of Mercy event is evidence that many people still fall through the cracks.

Since the year 2000, the Virginia MOM program has completed 71 projects, treated nearly 52,000 patients and donated dental care valued at more than $32 million, according to a fact sheet distributed at the event on Saturday. This is the first time the program has come to Suffolk.

“I think it’s a marvelous idea,” Alice Lundia of Suffolk told a reporter at the event while she waited for her dentures, which had been cracked for a year, to be repaired. “There’s a whole lot of people that need dental work done.”

Lundia and the other folks who received care at the event were thrilled to get the chance to have their teeth examined and treated. Not everyone who goes to the dentist has such a positive attitude about it, but there was plenty of goodwill toward dentists on display on Saturday — and more than a little mercy dispensed, as well.