Dallas Texas Mission of Mercy

www.tdasf.org

Friday - Saturday
April 15-16, 2011

TDA Smiles Foundation, along with our major sponsors; Dallas County Dental Society Foundation, The Potter’s House, Baylor Oral Health Foundation, The Pogue Foundation, Community Dental Care and Henry Schein Dental, arrived for setup on Thursday April 14th at the Potter’s House south of downtown Dallas.  All prepared for a big impact weekend starting at 8:00 a.m. unpacking the trucks, in approximately seven hours a 49-chair dental office complete with registration, triage, digital x-ray and removable department was ready for our guests. Over 100 dentists from the Dallas area and all over the state, along with a great group of hygienists and over 600 volunteers came together to serve, resulting in dental treatment, education and caring for 1,047 patients of low income families. Dental services provided were in excess of $587,000.00. What a great way to spend a weekend!!

Treating so many patients required a huge facility and The Potter’s House size was matched by the hearts of those that work there. Thank you to Pastor Moon for such effort and enthusiasm from the start and the ability to see how this event could help the underserved. Security, parking and event planning were ideally managed by Marsha Williams, Nadine Reid, Daphne Rogers and Joy Sparrow.
     Two hundred and fifty patients were pre-screened, two Fridays at Community Dental Care and one Saturday at Oral Surgery Associates of North Texas. An open to the public event, the remaining 800 lined up as early as 4:00 am. Patients were escorted to the youth sanctuary for oral hygiene instruction, then to registration and triage. If you ever want to know how to screen 1,000 patients in two days ask Drs. Kent Macaulay and Bill Gerlach, who kept us on track. X-ray was smooth and efficient thanks to our lead Ms. Melissa Walker. Big thanks to Mr. Mike Mullen with J Morita USA who donated the use of the panoramic machine, also Mr. Norm Boldt with Aribex for the Nomads and Mr. Jeff Edmonds providing the Dexis sensors. One of the most vital aspects of TMOM is sterilization where lead Ms. Petra van Beveren was amazing. Two of our sterilizers were supplied by Burkhart Dental Supply. Mr. Chris Violette of Henry Schein Dental and Mr. Wade Barker were instrumental to insure that all our equipment  worked well together. Chris also managed the over $10,000.00 of dental supplies donated by Henry Schein Dental.

Drs. Richard Smith and Don Lutes oversaw the 49 chair operatories where basic dental services were provided by some of the best dentists and dental students in the state. We were proud and fortunate to have 71 Baylor students contributing under the guidance of Drs. Jon Williamson and Larry Herwig. With 192 pre-dental students seeing the benefit of giving back, the future of our profession looks strong. Drs. Wayne Woods and Dale Greer played a major role in dentist and hygienist recruitment. Thank you to Ms. Jane Evans managing the patients flow and waiting area. A record number of removable appliances were delivered thanks to Stern Reed setting up their lab next to the treatment area and creating nine units prior and 54 during the event!! Lonestar Lab also made a big difference fabricating five units prior to the event. Replacing missing front teeth was certainly one of the major TMOM highlights. All of our patients received toothbrushes and toothpaste donated by Crest Oral B.

TDASF Chairman Dr. Kurt Loveless treated patients and lead photography. Ms. Tamara Jolee also took hundreds of photos and contributed in public relations. Keeping 750 volunteers and 1,000 patients hydrated and fed was a big undertaking. Thank you to Schepps Dairy, Dean Foods, Borden’s Dairy, Mr. Ron McDearmon with Minyard’s, Melitos and Chef Michael’s catering.

We were all grateful for The Smiles Foundation staff; Melinda Biggs, Judith Gonzalez, Billy Callis and Ashley Authement.  They are the backbone for this event and for the success of our future missions. Saturday afternoon at 4:30 breakdown began and by 7:00 p.m., The Potter’s House was transformed from dental office back to a church.

This was a memorable weekend, volunteers that gave their time and those we helped were truly blessed.

What dentistry can do!!


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TMOM Dallas on the
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