North Texas Dentistry Volume 8 Issue 5 2018 ISSUE 5 DE | Page 16

TMOM update
Texas Mission of Mercy
NOVEMBER 2018 | Providing care to our veterans
On November 9-10, The Dallas County Dental Society Founda-
tion hosted their second charitable dental mission geared
towards Veterans and their families in DFW, making it the 73rd
Texas Mission of Mercy (TMOM). This event, held at the Farm-
ers Branch Community Recreation Center over Veterans Day
weekend, brought much-needed oral health care to our nations
heroes. We were able to serve 561 patients, with a value of care
of $622,887! This was the highest average of care provided per
patient ever – $1,110! The event was a huge success and could
not have happened without our faithful volunteers.
One hundred and two removable units were fabricated for our
veterans with over 25% of those being complete dentures or
complete immediate dentures. Plus approximately twenty addi-
tional procedures like relines, repairs were completed on site by
the following labs: Dental Plus Laboratory, Affordable Dentures
& Implants, and Griffin Dental Laboratory.
DCDS Foundation’s primary role was to encourage a network of
caring dentists, dedicated community members and generous
sponsors to provide free dental care to North Texas veterans.
Pre-screenings of approximately 250 veterans in dire need were
completed in Dallas at the Veterans Resource Center, Dr. Mary
Swift’s office, and Dr. Erwin Tang’s office prior to the TMOM
weekend. Dallas County Dental Society member dentists and
staff volunteered at these locations to determine dental work
needed and prep the veterans.
Mary Swift, DDS, chaired the DCDS Foundation pre-screening
efforts for TMOM. The pre-screened individuals were joined at
the TMOM weekend event by an additional 300+ individuals
who were provided basic dental care such as cleanings, fillings,
extractions, removable appliances and oral health education
which brought much-needed oral health care to our nation’s
16 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com
heroes who do not receive basic dental care as part of their gov-
ernment care.
To learn more about opportunities to help the TDA Smiles Foun-
dation, or to make a contribution that will help more Texans in
need receive dental care, please visit the website www.tdasf.org.
There are dozens of ways to help, including donations of your
time, your talent, your treasure and your energy – and we need
them all!
Whether this was your first involvement with TDASF, or you are
one of our ongoing volunteers, please know that we appreciate
what you have done. We hope to see you working with us again
in the near future. We will host four more events in 2019 – in
Amarillo, Houston, Texarkana and Kerrville! Check back
at www.tmomvolunteer.org after the New Year to register for
these events.
TDA Smiles Foundation hosts four TMOM clinics a year travel-
ing across the state to provide free dental care to uninsured Tex-
ans in underserved parts of the state. Services are provided on a
first come, first served basis, and turnout at mobile clinics is usu-
ally high. This is the second time that DCDS Foundation has
assisted with the TMOM clinic specifically focusing on serving
U.S. veterans and their families in Dallas.
On the weekend of the TMOM event, Dr. Sloan Hildebrand over-
saw the volunteer dentists, while Dr. Michael Rainwater oversaw
the removeable laboratories and associated cases.
“The event was a blessing to so many, including us,
and we were honored to serve those who have so
bravely protected our freedom!”
– Sloan Hildebrand, DDS