Giving Back
community news
Texas Mission of Mercy
by Sara Harney
On April 10-11, 2015, the Texas Dental Association Smiles
Foundation (TDASF) hosted its 57th mission event, and 5th in
the Dallas area, at Eastfield College in Mesquite. This Texas
Mission of Mercy (TMOM) was a 42-chair mobile dental clinic
that served uninsured or underinsured Texans with free, painrelieving dental care in a mission setting.
The TMOM in Mesquite was able to treat 905 patients and
provide $591,179 worth of charitable dental care in two days.
Over 100 dentists volunteered from across the state, traveling
from as far as Amarillo and El Paso. With two labs on site,
Griffin and Affordable Dentures, the event was able to complete 81 prosthetics cases. This is the most cases TMOM has
ever been able to complete at any mission event!
TMOM relies upon the entire community for volunteers and
financial support. Dr. Sloan Hildebrand of Dallas, a first-time
TMOM participant, took on the Dental Chair role for the event.
This includes organizing all aspects of the event associated
with dentistry including, but not limited to: radiology, sterilization, supplies, and treatment. Eastfield College was a generous host of the event, donating staff time and opening up
their doors for the entire community during this process. This
event could not have happened without the Dallas County
Dental Society’s support, as well as support from the Baylor
Oral Health Foundation, Benevis, DentaQuest, and the Delta
Dental Community Care Foundation.
Since 2000, TDASF has hosted 57 mission events in 38 cities,
providing $16,297,554 in charitable dentistry to 31,376 Texans
through Texas Mission of Mercy and Smiles on Wheels. TDASF
has also facilitated charitable care for 2,332 Texans worth
$7,230,224 through the Texas Donated Dental Services
(TXDDS) Program. Taken together, TDASF’s programs have
provided a total of $23,527,778 worth of care to 33,708
patients through the help of volunteer dental professionals
and community involvement. TDASF is able to provide oral
health programs and education with the help of generous
donors like you. A great way to ensure we can continue serving our neediest neighbors through TMOM events and
TXDDS, is to play in, or sponsor, our annual Healthy Smiles
Golf Classic, TDASF’s largest fundraiser of the year. Please contact Judith Gonzalez, [email protected] for more information.
Together, we CAN create healthy smiles for all Texans!
16 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com