It starts with six wheels and ends with healthy smiles.

The North Carolina Baptist Men’s Medical/Dental Bus Ministry makes day-long stops all over the state and is coming to Clyde’s Chapel Baptist Church near the Archer Lodge community on Saturday, July 24.

From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. the free clinic will offer basic dental services including cleaning, examinations and X-rays, as well as blood pressure checks by trained medical personnel. Because Clyde’s Chapel is conducting the clinic as a physical and spiritual outreach project, there will be no charge for the services, thanks to mission organizations at the church with assistance from the Johnston County Baptist Association.

Visitors should bring personal identification and a list of all their current medications and dosage amounts, plus information about any special medical or dental treatments they are receiving, clinic organizers said.

Dental and medical personnel will see patients in the order of their arrival, and organizers suggest that visitors arrive no later than 2 p.m. to allow adequate time for registration and examination prior to treatment.

Three Wake County and Johnston County dentists, plus several local dental assistants and hygienists, are donating their time to staff the dental clinic. The bus has two full-service dental chairs on board, and a portable third chair will be set up in Fellowship Hall.

Clyde’s Chapel volunteers include emergency medical technicians and trained nurses, along with child care providers. Translators will be available to assist Hispanic visitors.

Church members are offering a free clothes closet in the Fellowship Hall for visitors and will give away bags containing toiletries and hygiene items.

Clyde’s Chapel Baptist Church is located at 16657 Buffalo Road, Wendell, at the intersection of Turnipseed and Buffalo roads. It is between Archer Lodge and Wendell, just inside the Johnston County line. It has members from the Wendell, Archer Lodge, Knightdale and Zebulon areas.

The North Carolina Baptist Men began the medical/dental bus ministry in 1988 and send two six-wheeled buses to a total of more than 100 locations annually, serving approximately 4,000 patients. The fuel bill alone is about $11,000 as the vehicles cover some 20,000 miles a year, according to the Baptist Men. At its stops across the state the ministry involves more than 2,500 local volunteers including health care personnel, counselors and translators.

For more information on the Clyde’s Chapel clinic, call the church office on weekday mornings at 365-6969. The church Web site is www.clydeschapel.org.