More than 1,300 patients.

Their convergence last week at West Virginia University at Parkersburg was a step in a movement intended to change the way many West Virginians take care of themselves.

It is difficult to understand, but government agencies that are charged with caring for poor adults and their children do not provide dental care for those adults.

The two-day free clinic in Parkersburg underscored that gap and showed that dental care is not available or affordable for many, many West Virginians. The Parkersburg community, with help from far and wide, came together in a remarkable way on July 31 and Aug. 1 to bring light to that obvious hole in our health care safety net.

I came away with a great deal of respect for the Parkersburg community. Dentists, nurses and other health professionals joined with community leaders there to put together the clinic. They learned how to organize the two-day clinic through their volunteer work in the Eastern Panhandle and other locales, where people of goodwill decided to provide dental care for those who desperately need it.

Joyce Mather, executive director of the United Way of the Mid-Ohio Valley, observed that the Parkersburg event was designed to open the eyes of policymakers and others about unattended dental needs. She was involved in planning the clinic during the past year.

"Even though this is a free dental clinic, trust us," she said. "It isn't free."

Parkersburg organizers found an ally in the Eastern Panhandle. Mikki Van Wyk had helped with two dental clinics in Hedgesville, and those clinics have led to the development of a free dental clinic in Martinsburg that is scheduled to open in January.

In the waning hours of the two-day clinic in Parkersburg, Van Wyk reflected on what she had seen there.

"I think they did a phenomenal job. I really do ...," she said of the Parkersburg clinic organizers. "Yesterday, they had more than 1,000 people in the rain. That in itself is testimony to what the need is.

"These people have been loving and kind to all of the people they have dealt with here. They have been amazingly well organized. They have pulled this together in a year's time."

Van Wyk praised the dentists and others who stepped up to care for patients at the clinic. She observed that West Virginia needs more dentists, and the public must have increased access to their services.

Van Wyk made a meaningful point about the number of dentists practicing in West Virginia. In a state with profound dental needs, our state produces about twice as many lawyers each year as it does dentists. I'm not sure I understand that priority.

Van Wyk and Mather do not see free clinics for adults as the answer for the state's dental health needs. They see it as a temporary fix for a persistent problem. Instead, they want West Virginia policy leaders to become aware of the need to improve access to dental care. I believe they succeeded.

The West Virginia Dental Association, which represents dentists across the state, has supported the clinics. It also is urging state government to provide dental equipment for free health clinics, where volunteer and retired dentists can provide care two or three days a week on an ongoing basis. A free health clinic in Kanawha County has had success in offering dental services to its patients, according to Richard D. Stevens, executive director of the association.

This is a complex issue. I understand that many West Virginians expect to lose their teeth. That's their families' history. Their family members have not taken care of their teeth because they didn't understand the need or they simply could not afford to visit a dentist's office.

It seems to me that those are stubborn problems that will require our schools and dental and medical communities -- including state and local government health agencies -- to work even harder to educate the public about the importance of dental care. The costs of dental care also remain a barrier, and the unemployed and under-employed struggle to afford those services. That's also a significant problem.

In the meantime, Van Wyk and the volunteers who have committed themselves to important community projects have made a statement that they hope will ignite a more serious and productive conversation about oral health across West Virginia.

Dan Page is editor and publisher of The State Journal. His e-mail address is dpage@statejournal.com.