News and notes

Here's a new way to make money for the Mobile Dental Care Program!

Polly van der Glas from Melbourne, Australia is producing these works of art for sale. According to her website, human teeth are hard to come by. I'd say healthy human teeth are probably pretty hard to come by. Our mobile dental jewelry wouldn't look quite so...clean, and, well, caries free.

On a more cheerful note, here is a picture drawn by one of our happy customers!

Matt is now our official photographer

Staff member Matt Guffey is sending back some great pics from the panhandle area!

Notes from the Road

From Andy Ekdahl…

Photo by Matt Guffey

Well it's my 1st time to the panhandle in about two years and Matt's first time ever! So far, so good and we have two more days of treatment scheduled. I thought I'd let you know what's been going on! We had a 14+ hour day yesterday, working in Cherokee all day and then driving out to Guymon. This morning we finally got to see the northwestern part of Oklahoma called "The Panhandle" since the sun was down when we came in last night. One can’t help but travel back in your mind to a time when buffalo roamed freely out here, travel was done by horse and wagon and bandits were more than legends from long ago.

Photo by Matt Guffey

We were amazed with how much snow was left over from their snow storm two weeks ago that dumped around 20" of snow! The odd thing was that it seemed to be random where the snow remained: one field was dry and the neighboring field still covered. The really exciting thing? Two camels outlined against the horizon as we drove out to Boise City! That's right, camels. Last I checked those things live in Africa, India and Asia but there they were sharing the field with the buffalo! As we got further and further out here we saw herds of pronghorn and even a lone...wolf? I don't know, it seemed too grey to be a coyote, but who knows, it's Oklahoma!

On the Road...

So I'm on my way to Austin to look at some new mobile dental units. That's exciting. Except the weather in Texas is terrible and I'm stuck in Houston waiting for things to clear up in Dallas. It's all one big puzzle or game of chess.

Anyway, funny story. On my way out of Oklahoma I got stopped at security for having something suspicious in my carry on. I couldn't image what could possibly be suspicious until they pulled out a shade guide. I'd forgotten I had it in my computer bag. I don't even know why I had it in my computer bag.

I guess it does look a little weird, right there next to my Vitamin water and lame novel. They were pretty quick to understand what it is used for and that it wasn't dangerous. Actually, I think they were trying to impress the boss man who was passing through at the time and checking to make sure they were doing their job. They did. The world is now a little safer. And the security dude could use some bleach, judging by a quick comparison with the shade guide.

One exciting thing, other than getting to check out brand new mobile units in hopes of replacing the 5th wheel we just sold. This blog was nominated for a 2009 Okie Blog Award. If you have an Oklahoma blog or know someone who does, vote for us in the Best Business Related Blog category. Click here to see the voting guidelines. You must be an Oklahoma blogger to vote.

OKMOM 2010 Is History!

The first Oklahoma Mission of Mercy is over, the portable chairs are off to another state, the mobile dental unit is back in its home. More than $850,000 in free dental work was performed Friday and Saturday at the Tulsa Convention Center. 1,800 people benefitted from the two-day event.

I don't know about the rest of the volunteers, but my feet hurt! It was worth the 3:00a.m. wake up calls on Friday and Saturday and the very long days.

The 2011 OKMOM will be held in Oklahoma City. I think a lot was learned at this event and the next one will go even more smoothly. Kudos to everyone involved!




Dental assistant Kimberly Kennedy and Dr. Justin Beasley work on a patient in the Tulsa Convention Center during the Oklahoma Mission of Mercy on Friday.

Photo from the Tulsa World.

Setting up for OKMOM

Dr. Jeannie Bath has been giving tours of the mobile unit all day to volunteers as they help set up for the Oklahoma Mission of Mercy. Tomorrow is the big day! The first OKMOM.

See you at OKMOM

The van got an on-site wash last night before pulling into the Tulsa Convention Center for the Oklahoma Mission of Mercy. We hope to see many of you there!

What do ice and snow and a winnebago have in common? Nothing!!

Ice and snow and a dental office on wheels do not mix! The mobile dental unit is on its way to Woodward today for an event coordinated by Dr. Teri White. Thank you Dr. White and staff for putting all the hard work into serving your community. Hopefully the Winnebago can get back to OKC and tucked into its warm storage place late tonight before the next winter storm hits.

Remember you can see all of our volunteer opportunities from Volunteer Squared. And if, like Dr. White, you have something specific in mind for your community, just give us a call at 405-241-1299 to talk it over.

Hope to see many of you at the Oklahoma Mission of Mercy on February 5&6!

New Year, new stuff

Can I just say I get excited about things like new tires on the Mobile Dental Van? Having a flat tire in the dark, in the middle of the countryside does not make me a happy camper. So the gift of four new tires makes me happy!! We also got a new radio the replace the one that got fried for some unknown reason, a new arrangement up front in the "reception" area, a new computer, and, tah dah! A Nomad portable x-ray unit. Many thanks to Delta Dental of Oklahoma for funding those much-needed improvements.

It's because of your support and volunteerism plus the funding from Delta Dental that we were able to see exponentially more patients in the last four months of 2009. Look at these numbers!