Jose Velasquez had five extra teeth in his mouth that had been infected for years.

A native of San Marcos, Guatemala, who now lives in New Haven, he had known for 20 years that he needed dental care.

Friday morning, Velasquez finally got the care he needed for free.

After his cousin told him about the Mission of Mercy clinic, he had impressions taken Friday and was having new teeth custom-built on-site in the clinic’s dental lab. He planned to return Saturday to pick them up and was thrilled to finally be getting the care he needed.

While there were long lines when the 16th Mission of Mercy clinic opened at 8 a.m. Friday — with some of the the expected 1,400 patients arriving Thursday night — by Friday afternoon anybody could have walked right in until its expected 3 p.m. cut-off time.

The clinic, staffed by an estimated 1,000 volunteers from as far away as Florida and Vermont, will continue at 8 a.m. Saturday, said Lisa Perry-Swain, executive director of the Connecticut Foundation for Dental Outreach, which hosts Mission of Mercy in various locations around the state. 

No appointments are necessary and patients are seen on a first-come, first-served basis, said Perry-Swain, who took over as director this year after 10 years as a volunteer.

This is the third time since the clinic began in 2008 that it has taken place in New Haven. Last year, it served 900 patients at the University of Connecticut, she said.

The clinic does its work entirely with private and foundation funds — and is always looking for donations — although it hopes to eventually land some assistance from the state and federal governments, Perry-Swain said.

Emilia Romero, 5, of New Haven, was all smiles — most of the time — as she got her first-ever teeth-cleaning, learned how to properly brush her teeth and even got her inaugural flossing and fluoride treatment from not one but two volunteer dentists as she sat in a chair in the cavernous fieldhouse.

“I’m very happy about it,” said Emilia’s mother, Mayra Lozano, who moved to New Haven from Ecuador a year ago and also heard about the clinic from a cousin. Dental care “is very expensive,” said Lozano, who was at the clinic to get a root canal.

Emilia’s two dentists, Dr. Dorin Coffler of New Haven, a pediatric dental resident at the Yale School of Medicine, and Caroline Thomas of Farmington, a fourth year dental student at the University of Connecticut, were only too happy to help.

“We’re here to help the people who need it the most,” said Coffler, a first-time volunteer.

Veronica Haase of West Haven had a pretty good reason to wait in line along Sherman Avenue to get into the clinic.

“I need to get an extraction,” she said. 

How did she find out about the clinic?

“I was actually scrolling for emergency dental care and I saw this,” Haase said. “I just want to get rid of it,” she said of the broken tooth she wants to have extracted.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” said Reese Chapman of Waterbury, who found out about the annual clinic several years ago and made it to a Mission of Mercy clinic once before in 2011.

“Dental care is expensive,” said Chapman, who said she works three jobs. The clinic “is a lifesaver. The first time I came here, I was in so much pain.”

Ed Hanson came all the way from the Champlain Dental Lab in Williston, Vt., outside Burlington, Vt., to volunteer.

“Honestly man, it’s a privilege,” said Hanson, a removable denture technician whose boss brought his entire lab to the clinic for its two-day run. “I would say dental care is health care and health care is a human right.”

“For these people, it’s everything,” Hanson said as he refitted a denture his lab made for a veteran at last year’s clinic. Some of them “haven’t smiled in 15 years,” he said.

The clinic opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at which Perry-Swain was joined by Mayor Justin Elicker, Health Director Maritza Bond, Dr. Laurence Levy and Dr. William Nash, co-chair of the Connecticut Mission of Mercy and the Connecticut Foundation for Dental Outreach.

“This is just awesome,” said Elicker, who said the clinic “is highlighting how so many people can come together to provide free dental care.” He urged people to help get the word out to make sure people who need dental care are able to get it.

Nash urged people to “be patient and we will take care of you as best we can.”