Brenton Bennett and dental assistant Janet Coleman work on a patient during the Kansas Mission of Mercy in February.
Many people huddled in tents and chairs during the cold overnight hours of late February to receive free dental care as a part of the Kansas Mission of Mercy in Manhattan.
The Kansas Mission of Mercy is the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation’s signature event. The foundation has donated more than $4.5 million in dental care through the Kansas Mission of Mercy. Since its inception, more than 10,000 patients have been served through contributions of Kansas dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants.
Several Emporia dental professionals took part in this year’s event, which was held on Feb. 20 and 21 at the National Guard Armory east of Manhattan. During this event, $1,014,382 worth of free dental care was provided to 1,714 patients from Kansas and other surrounding states. A total of 2,898 teeth were extracted and another 1,759 teeth were filled.
Dentists Brenton Bennett of Bennett & Bennett along with Blair Edgington, Christa Walker and Michelle Perez of the dental office at Flint Hills Community Health Center volunteered their time for the event. Codi Scott, dental assistant from Bennett & Bennett, and Lyn Bluebaugh, office manager at the community health center’s dental clinic, part-time dental hygienist Millie Bergstrom from the community health center and Jackie Stair, dental assistant from the community health center also volunteered their time. Other Emporia area dental professionals volunteered their time as well.
“You treat people with needs who don’t have the resources to get it taken care of on their own,” Scott said.
The process is streamlined and patients are triaged before they receive dental care, Edgington said. Patients who need extractions are sent to one area. Patients who need fillings are sent to another. Those who need anesthetic are sent to another line and then wait until a dentist is ready for a new patient.
“You get to help a lot of people,” Perez said. “It was interesting to see the flow and the mass of people you reach out to. I’ll definitely do it in the upcoming years. It’s a good experience.”
The mass dental clinic is available on a first-come, first-served basis, Bennett said. Bennett said he saw the first person set up in line at 3:30 p.m. the day before the clinic was set to start.
“There are families that spend all night to get dental work for their family,” he said.
Inside the building, it took not only dentists and dental assistants to pull the event off, it took scores of volunteers as well. The volunteers set up chairs, made food, picked up trash and numerous other tasks.
“For every dentist that is there it took eight to nine volunteers to get people in that chair,” Bennett said.
Bennett said the experience is almost like a vacation from everyday dentistry for him.
“It’s fulfilling,” he said. “Working with other dentists I feel like I get to learn more in two days than in 200 hours of training. ... I feel humbled by it because I get the opportunity to make an impact.”
Edgington agreed.
“The folks that get care are always very, very appreciative,” she said. “They usually have been there since 2 a.m. waiting in line. Even though they have been freezing outside and waiting in line they are very happy to receive care. It’s a rewarding experience.”
• The 2010 Kansas Mission of Mercy will be held on April 16 and 17, 2010, in Independence. For more information on this event go to www.ksdentalfoundation.org or call (785) 272-7469.
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Posted by create (anonymous) on March 15, 2009 at 7:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a terrible thing it is for someone to need a tooth to be pulled and not be able to afford a dentist. There's nothing worse than a toothache because it affects so many other things. All pain aside, however, this says something about the total picture of dental health care availability in this country. I don't believe it has anything to do with the numbers of dentists. We seem to have plenty of those.
While it is a very good thing for dentist professionals to volunteer their time this way, what might the dental profession do as a whole to influence the insurance industry with regard to dental riders on health policies? Many dental riders are so expensive that few carry them. It's like "pulling teeth" to get providers to offer them. Often, while discussing health coverage, the question is frequently, "Do you get dental or vision?"
Of course, I don't expect dentists to work for nothing, but several years ago, I loan two hundred dollars to a friend to get a tooth pulled by an Emporia dentist because the dentist wouldn't do it unless she had dental insurance or cash. It's a story that's all too common because there are no provisions for emergency dental health care.
Unfortunately, with the present situation of unemployment in this country, too many of those who did have dental riders will be standing in line next year. What a damn shame.
If dentists care that much for patient dental care as to work these long hours volunteering for the large numbers that show up for care, why not do something else about it? What if a town used some stimulus dollars to build a free dental clinic and each dentist volunteered his/her time and skills once every 6 weeks or so in a townwide effort?
OMG, I'm going to be accused of being a communist again!
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