When 62-year-old Cheryll Brown runs her tongue along the seven teeth that remain in her lower jaw, she can feel the cavities that have formed over long years of little money and no dental insurance.

The Butler County woman considers herself lucky that the teeth don't ache, but she wonders whether she'll soon have to scrape up the cash for an extraction and bottom plate of false teeth. She's worn a top plate for almost 40 years; the last time it needed to be replaced, she, her family and friends saved aluminum cans for months until she had enough money to buy them.

Mrs. Brown, of Concord, is among 800 people whose names are on a list of would-be patients at a free dental clinic so close to opening it's almost painful to think about for Cecelia Buechele Foster, executive director of the 18-month-old Community Health Clinic of Butler County.

"We're a fraction of an inch away from getting this off the ground," she said.

The health clinic opened Jan. 15, 2008, in a 4,700-square-foot converted warehouse at the Eagle Commercial Center in the Bonnie Brook Industrial Park in Summit and Butler townships.

Since then, it has built a roster of 904 patients who have received free health care and medicine during 2,200 visits. The patients are ages 19 to 64, don't qualify for government-funded health insurance and can't afford private insurance. To be eligible for care, they must have maximum household income from $21,660 for an individual to $44,100 for a family of four.

As dire as is the need for health care at the clinic, the need for dental care is equal to it, said Ms. Buechele Foster. Those associated with opening the clinic have planned to offer free dental services from the clinic's inception.

Much has been done toward that end: Six dentists have committed to rotating hours at the dental clinic, which is expected to operate twice monthly; potential patients have been screened for eligibility; and two dental suites have been fully equipped.

Standing in the way is about $40,000 needed for operations. "We're so close. It's very frustrating," Ms. Buechele Foster said.

For Mrs. Brown, it's heartbreaking. "Maybe by the time I can get to a dentist, my teeth won't even be able to be saved," she wondered aloud.

"Dental care just isn't in our budget," Mrs. Brown said, noting that she and her husband, Tom, 66, have a difficult time cobbling together enough money to pay their rent, utilities and food bills. He lost his job as a welder when Pullman-Standard shut down in Butler in 1982, and the family medical insurance went with it.

He worked odd jobs until heart problems forced him to retire. She drives a school bus. Together, they cut firewood, save aluminum cans, haul junk, shop at discount food stores, wear clothes from thrift shops and eat the venison Tom harvests during deer-hunting season.

The Browns' story is echoed time and again in the interviews the clinic staff has conducted with its potential patients.

The clinic has been a lifeline to many since its opening.

Mrs. Brown hadn't been to a doctor for a thorough examination in 20 years until she went to the clinic in March 2008. "Whatever I had, I just suffered through it," she said. She was diagnosed with high cholesterol and a thyroid problem.

Her husband of 45 years is old enough to receive government medical insurance so he is not a clinic patient.

The leading diagnosis in clinic patients has been hypertension, followed by diabetes, cardiovascular problems, asthma and allergies, and anxiety/depression, Ms. Buechele Foster said.

The clinic founders have been successful in wringing support from the community; she hopes that success will continue when it comes to getting the dental clinic off the ground.

About $1.2 million was raised to prepare the health clinic building, buy equipment and hire the minimal paid staff that operates the facility: an executive director, clinic operations director, case manager and part-time nurse practitioner. The money came from corporate gifts, grants and donations from individuals and civic groups.

A mainstay of the clinic is its corps of volunteers -- about 150 who include doctors, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, retired teachers, accountants, screeners, pharmacists and support staff.

Ms. Buechele Foster said she believes the tremendous need has been the motivator behind the community rising to the challenge of founding, staffing and operating the clinic.

"[Many of our] Butler County neighbors ... are working and earn too much to qualify for Medicaid or other government programs and cannot afford private health insurance or medical care. For many of these patients, hospital emergency facilities have provided their only care. However, emergency care is just that, and it does not provide consistent care, medication and follow-up necessary to keep patients with chronic illnesses well and able to work," Ms. Buechele Foster said.

The annual operating costs for the fiscal year that began July 1 is $334,900, as approved by the clinic's board of directors. Another $40,000 has been approved for the dental clinic, if that money can be raised.

"We are working feverishly to make this happen," Ms. Buechele Foster said, noting that a fundraising goal of $500,000 has been set.

The clinic is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, call the clinic at 724-841-0980. Online applications can be obtained at www.butlerhealthclinic.org