Volunteer Dentists Provided $1.12 Million in Free Dental Care
An estimated $1.12 million in charitable dental care was provided to 1,570 children and adults during 2,141 patient visits at the Wisconsin Dental Association and WDA Foundation’s third Mission of Mercy held June 24 and 25, at Greenheck Field House in Weston, Wis.
WEST ALLIS, WIS., June 30, 2011 – An estimated $1.12 million in free dental care was provided to 1,570 children and adults during 2,141 patient visits at the Wisconsin Dental Association and WDA Foundation’s third Mission of Mercy held June 24 and 25, at Greenheck Field House in Weston, Wis.
Patients ranged in age from a 10-month-old girl to a 91-year-old man, and included 22 Special Olympics Wisconsin athletes. Individuals and families who face barriers to dental care on a daily basis sought treatment at this large-scale, charitable event staged near Wausau.
The first patient arrived 36 hours in advance and slept in his car Wednesday night before setting up a lawn chair outside of the clinic entrance around 10 a.m. Thursday.
Clinic doors opened at 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday with care concluding by 5:30 p.m. both days. A total of 8,033 dental procedures were performed, including 1,822 fillings, 1,756 teeth extracted, 593 cleanings and 22 root canals. Several dental labs worked with volunteer technicians to create 90 partial dentures.
The WDA Mission of Mercy is a very memorable experience for volunteers and patients alike, as reflected in this e-mail from Karen E., “I was a patient at the Mission of Mercy in Weston on Friday. My heart is filled with gratitude for the generosity of those who dedicated their time and efforts to this great deed. I will never forget that day in my life and the pure kindness of everyone who cared for me and so many others…I’m not able to find the words to describe the depth to which you’ve touched my heart and spirit…You are all incredible.”
Some 215 WDA dentists, along with dental hygienists and assistants and Marquette University School of Dentistry students were among the 1,050 volunteers from 163 Wisconsin communities who helped.
“We were prepared to treat more patients, but the demand for care in central Wisconsin was on par with what we saw in La Crosse in 2009 and Sheboygan in 2010,” notes WDA President Dr. Eugene Shoemaker of Waukesha, Wis.
More than 70 organizations and individuals helped make this year’s WDA MOM possible with $160,000 in tax-deductible financial and in-kind donations. These gifts defray the costs for dental equipment and facility rental, supplies, pharmaceuticals and food for volunteers and patients. On average, $5 to $7 in care is donated for every one dollar received.
Since 2009, the three WDA Mission of Mercy events have delivered more than $2.9 million in charitable care through more than 5,700 patient visits.
Visit WDA.org for Mission of Mercy photos, patient comments, volunteer testimonials, videos and media coverage from this most recent large-scale, charitable dental care event in Wisconsin.
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Categories: Dental News
If dentists would treat low-income people all year round, these missions of mercy wouldn’t be needed.
90% of Wisconsin is fluoridated. But 80% of dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients. Many Americans don’t have dental insurance or can’t afford the co-pays.
Dental Therapists are a solution to this problem. DTs have worked for decades in other developed countries as effectively as dentists. But organized dentistry uses it’s power and money to disallow them from working in the US. Instead dentistry focuses on water fluoridation – choosing to treat the water of low income people rather than their teeth.
No American is, or ever was, fluoride-deficient. Too many of dentists deficient.
Bravo to the helping hands that day! I have and try to do quite a bit of this type of stuff as I run into during my everyday life and practice. Hard to do it all and run a business as well. But try my best.