Casino workers finding reason to smile

Michelle Swafford

Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004 | 10:47 a.m.

A couple of Las Vegas casino operators are finding that they can improve their employees' bright smiles and provide a convenient health benefit through an alternative clinic.

Casino Direct Health Services, a mobile dentist clinic in Las Vegas, offers on-site general dentistry services to Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming Corp. employees, and is looking to expand to other casinos and, possibly, beyond the gaming industry.

The dental company has three customized recreational vehicles equipped with three high-tech patient stations and all the ancillary equipment such as X-ray machines and computers.

Each mobile clinic is staffed with a licensed dentist and support staff, making it similar to a traditional dentist's office other than the clinics are parked in employers' parking lots one day a week.

Chris Davenport created the drive-up dental company in 2000 in conjunction with a group of local dentists who provided mobile dentistry to Palace Station employees. Davenport, who is a dental hygienist, owns the management company that operates Casino Direct Health Services, but not the actual dental practice since he is not a dentist.

The services were expanded to all Station casinos in the past few years, and last month Boyd Gaming agreed to a tentative deal for Stardust employees, Davenport said.

"In the service industry you want people smiling," he said, adding that many service people have had limited dental care.

Rob Stillwell, spokesman for Boyd Gaming Corp., said the company agreed to a four-month deal with Casino Direct and so far the employees love the benefit.

"We have had a lot of positive feedback," he said. "The convenience of what it offers to our employees is tremendous. The more people that visit doctors and dentists on a regular basis, the less they're going to miss work."

Boyd Gaming wanted to bring health services to its employees to encourage them to stay healthy, Stillwell said, adding that the dental benefit could be expanded to Boyd's 10 other properties since the service has been well received and the costs are comparable to other dentists.

Employers or their insurance companies pay the dental bill and the electricity used one day a week, while Davenport's company pays for the electrical power hook-up and the cable bill, Davenport said.

Patients schedule appointments as they would with any dentist, but they have the luxury of walking across their employer's parking lot rather than driving across town, and they can do it before work, after work or during their lunch hour, Davenport said.

Patients can watch cable television while they wait in one of the dental chairs and the televisions double as a computer link to electronic patient records and X-rays, he said.

The dentists housed at the Casino Direct mobile clinics are approved by most dental insurance plans and clinic appointments are not limited to casino employees, Davenport said.

The potential employer drawback to having a mobile dentist clinic on site: "People are going to use it and they're (employers) are going to pay for it," Davenport said, adding that it is cheaper to pay preventive costs than major dental and other health bills.

Mobile dentist clinics are commonly used to care for indignant people around the country, but are less popular in the private sector.

Part of the reason is because it costs about $500,000 to customize and equip a recreational vehicle to be used as a dental clinic, Davenport said. You could lease a building with 10 patient rooms for the same price as a three-room mobile clinic, he said.

A version of this story first appeared in In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Sun.