In Owasso, we participated in the New Heights Church "Back to School" day - a day where the church and it's wonderful volunteers give school supplies, clothes and shoes, hair cuts, eye and medical exams to those in the community with children in need. The Mobile Dental Unit was able to provide free dental services to nine children that had been pre-screened by a dental hygienist who happened to be a member of the church earlier, and a patient list was built from there. When we went to park the Unit at the church just after 8 a.m., I was so surprised at how many people were already there! Lines were out the building, parking lots were so full they were forced to park across the street - this was apparently a service the community was looking forward to. Thanks very much to Pastor John-David at New Heights Church for letting us be apart of the "Back to School" day once again, and we are scheduled to go there again next year on July 31. Our volunteers, Dr. Mark Argo and his assistant Christy, along with contract dentist Dr. William Gray and Peggy, ODF staff assistant, we donated almost $4,000 in dentistry and sent the children back to school with healthy smiles!
Dr. Mark Argo, Cathrine, and Christy.
Cathrine had a broken front tooth and Dr. Argo used resin to give the tooth the appearance of being whole.
August 2, we were at another familiar location with the Mental Health Association of Tulsa at their Denver House site. MHAT has 17 location across Tulsa which provide homeless and mentally ill people a place to sleep, take classes or beat the heat. On that particular day, the temperature topped at 113 degrees - and man was it hot - inside the mobile dental unit and out! MHAT offers wonderful resources to those who need a place to stay cool in the summer and need a place to get back on their feet. We saw eight patients who were all adults and did $2,474.41 in donated dental care, which ranged from extractions to fillings and cleanings. Since we started working with MHAT in 2011, we have enjoyed our partnership immensely and always look forward to visiting their locations. Connally Perry, Administrator of Permanent Supported & Transitional Housing for MHAT, said even with services with the Mobile Dental Unit, accessing dental treatment is still one of the hardest to find services for their community.
We spent August 3 in Perkins with the Iowa Tribe Clinic - a partnership made possible by the Oklahoma City Inter Tribal Health Board. Thankfully, the temperatures were a little nicer to us that day and there were some clouds! On the way over a few sprinkles hit the windshield! Overall, the day ran very smoothly thanks to the on-site coordinator, Andrea, and her prep-work! We saw seven patients - children and adults - and did $1,863.86 in donated treatment.
Saturday, August 4, we were in Drumright working with Drumright Dental Center and their community-wide free dental day. Steve, the Community Coordinator and typical mobile unit driver, joined the group after being on a well-deserved vacation earlier that week. So, I headed back home while Steve took over.
As I'm sure many of you heard, outstretched wildfires affected that portion of Oklahoma (east and south of Stillwater) over the weekend. Luckily, the mobile unit was not in an evacuation area, so seven patients received $6,009.23 in donated treatment inside the mobile dental unit along (the office opened up several of it's chairs to provide free services as well). However, we were able to see smoke, and on the way home were re-routed on the highways due to the grass fires.
Life on the mobile unit is never dull, so sometimes I look forward to being in the office after I come in from the road. That being said, this time things went very smooth, and I was able to interact with patients and their families to understand how much of a impact we make not only in people's mouths, but their overall health and lives. Being in the trenches where the care is provided and seeing smiles all around is such a wonderful feeling and gives a face to the work I do behind my desk everyday.
Susan Hoover
Program Relations Manager
shoover@okdf.org
Saturday, August 4, we were in Drumright working with Drumright Dental Center and their community-wide free dental day. Steve, the Community Coordinator and typical mobile unit driver, joined the group after being on a well-deserved vacation earlier that week. So, I headed back home while Steve took over.As I'm sure many of you heard, outstretched wildfires affected that portion of Oklahoma (east and south of Stillwater) over the weekend. Luckily, the mobile unit was not in an evacuation area, so seven patients received $6,009.23 in donated treatment inside the mobile dental unit along (the office opened up several of it's chairs to provide free services as well). However, we were able to see smoke, and on the way home were re-routed on the highways due to the grass fires.
Life on the mobile unit is never dull, so sometimes I look forward to being in the office after I come in from the road. That being said, this time things went very smooth, and I was able to interact with patients and their families to understand how much of a impact we make not only in people's mouths, but their overall health and lives. Being in the trenches where the care is provided and seeing smiles all around is such a wonderful feeling and gives a face to the work I do behind my desk everyday.
Susan Hoover
Program Relations Manager
shoover@okdf.org
