Bee County Dentistry is increasing its services.
Dr. Elizabeth Shelton said her main reason for opening Bee Center for dentistry was so patients wouldn’t have to travel so far for dental help.
“Because it is a burden to have to travel out of town. Whenever you travel, you have to buy gas and eat out and all that stuff, and it gets to be time-consuming and expensive,” Dr. Shelton said.
Dr. Shelton said the facility staffs about 15 staff employees and sees over thousands of patients.
This year she said the center will have two doctors for spots they’ve never had before. One doctor who will do IV sedation for wisdom teeth, and Dr. Lanissa Martinez who helps with children's dentistry.
“It means a lot to me. It means an access to care, letting them get that treatment done that they may not have been able to do otherwise because they were too nervous,” Dr. Martinez said.
Julian Blakeley said he’s been going to Bee County Dentistry for the past 23 years. He said having trust with the staff is why continues to go.
“Between root canals, crowns, fillings, you name it, I’ve basically gone through it all,” Blakeley said.
Blakeley said for him, being able to travel to other dentists in Corpus Christi, Victoria, or San Antonio was not affordable.
“I come from very meager means my family didn’t have a whole lot. So little did I know, 22 miles away, I would be having the dentist I go to for about half my life now,” Blakeley said.
For Dr. Martinez, she said adding new staff and services to rural areas like Beeville means removing a barrier to care.
“A barrier to care is something that is real for a lot of people in small rural communities. They can’t always get to San Antonio, they don’t have the resources, the transportation. So being able to do this and provide that level of dental care for so many means a lot to me,” Dr. Martinez said.
Bee County Dentistry is open from Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
