A previous Mission of Mercy event (Photo courtesy Virginia Dental Association Foundation)
The largest dental clinic in Virginia can be found this weekend in Southwest Virginia coal country, in Wise.
It’s a chance for an estimated 1,100 to 1,200 individuals who could otherwise not afford dental care to have procedures ranging from everyday cleanings to dental surgery under sedation, all at no cost. It’s the 19th time this clinic, Mission of Mercy (MOM), has been offered in Wise, and it marks 100 such trips overall across the state. The program is a project of the Richmond-based Virginia Dental Association Foundation.
The clinic is open Friday through Sunday. This is the first year it’s been indoors, at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise campus at the Prior Convocation Center. Previous locations have included an airplane hangar and a fairgrounds. Other health services are still being provided this year at the fairgrounds.
Volunteers come from across the state. Services are provided by dentists, hygienists and students, while other volunteers help run the event.
The Virginia Dental Association’s executive director, Terry Dickinson, founded the project, and has participated yearly. He notes that many people are unable to access care because they are disabled, lack transportation or can’t afford dental services.
Less than half of Virginians have dental insurance. Many people who have coverage may still be unable to afford care because of high deductibles or their plans only cover half the cost of a procedure such as a root canal or crown.
The MOM clinics and other foundation programs help to bridge those gaps. “This is often a last stop for them, the only way to access care,” says Tara Quinn, the foundation’s executive director.
Dental issues can have a negative impact on overall health and well-being: Oral pain can be overwhelming and debilitating, making it hard to concentrate in class or at work, and can affect overall health. Dickinson notes that the MOM program has provided care to 65,000 people over the years, about $45 million in free dentistry.
Partners in the Wise project also include the Virginia Health Care Foundation, Remote Area Medical, and the VCU School of Dentistry and Dental Hygiene. The clinic in Wise is the largest of MOM’s offerings. Most are one-day affairs, such as a clinic for the homeless to be held in November at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Foundation programs also include Donated Dental Services, which provides care to seniors and adults with disabilities, and Give Kids a Smile dental care for children.
MOM serves all ages, but mostly adults. Dental issues are covered for children who qualify for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Virginia, and through the Give Kids a Smile program. Pregnant women in need are also covered for dental care through those programs, according to Dickinson. About 10-12 children with severe dental problems requiring general anesthesia will be served, courtesy of Richmond pediatric dentist Roger Wood, Dickinson said.
There are 85 chairs in this clinic, with services available including fillings, cleaning, root canals, dentures and repairs. “We do whatever needs to be done to help people with their teeth,” says Dickinson.
They start seeing patients at 7 a.m. each day, continuing to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and to 11 a.m. on Sunday. It’s on a first-come, first-served basis. Lines may be hours long, but the volunteers see as many patients as they can.
For about a quarter of the patients, this clinic is their dental home, according to Dickinson, and they come each July for services. That’s helped change attitudes. When MOM started, many of the patients expected to lose all their teeth anyway, and told doctors just to go ahead and pull them and set them up for dentures.
The clinic workers labored to convince the patients to hang onto their teeth and focus more on preventive care. “We’ve kind of changed the atmosphere,” Dickinson says.
The Wise clinic over the years has served 22,564 residents of Southwest Virginia, with services valued at $19 million. MOM overall reaches about 4,000 people each year. It costs about $75,000 to $100,000 to stage the clinic. Dickinson notes that the foundation is a nonprofit and that no one is paid for the clinic work. Learn more about the nonprofit.
All hands are welcome. “You don’t have to be a dentist or hygienist, you just have to be willing to give of yourself,” says Dickinson.
He says that there is a great satisfaction in giving back to the community for the volunteers, from the dental students, dentists and hygienists to the community members who help run the clinics. “We’re very honored to have these unique talents, to be able to do dentistry,” he says. “We [all] need to give something back. This is a way we do it.”
