In 2006, when the Mobile Dental Care program started down the road of serving Oklahomans in need of dental care, the idea of reaching 10,000 people was hopeful, but still far beyond the horizon. Now, just six years later, we are thrilled to celebrate treating 10,000 Oklahomans of all ages, races and income levels through our program.
As we look to the future of the program, we see exciting challenges:
• A second mobile unit currently under construction - a pipe dream less than a year ago;
• Expanding our program to all 77 counties in Oklahoma;
• New partnerships with organizations invested in creating better opportunities for Oklahomans; and
• supporting our mission to eliminate barriers to oral health care for the populations they serve - women leaving prison, the mentally ill, homeless, indigenous and at-risk populations of all ages.
Working with these groups shows most clearly just how many more people need our help and how we can better serve our fellow Oklahomans. Now, we look ahead and see great possibilities – while knowing these past six years have led us to this mile marker of success.
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| Dafne stands with ODF Executive Director John Wilguess, Delta Dental of Oklahoma President & CEO John Gladden, Dr. Jeannie Bath, and Captain Supertooth |
Moving to September 6, we celebrated our 10,000th patient while at the Latino Community Development Agency in Oklahoma City. We have partnered with the LCDA for almost five years, and visited there over thirty times with our program providing screenings and treatment for their clients. We had the pleasure of treating 8-year-old Dafne Soto, our lucky 10,000th patient! Longtime volunteer Dr. Jeannie Bath (Edmond) provided treatment that day. Dafne's mother scheduled and appointment for her after seeing decay on Dafne's lower molars. Dr. Bath extracted the molars and also gave her some hygiene lessons to keep her teeth healthy! The Soto family was very grateful for the services they received through the LCDA and the Mobile Dental Unit, which saved them hundreds of dollars the low-income and non-insured family did not have.
We see people like Dafne everyday all around Oklahoma. While we celebrated Dafne on Thursday, we know there are still many like her and the Soto family that are in need of our services.
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| Dafne thanks Dr. Bath after receiving dental treatment |
Obviously a huge thanks goes out to our program funders who believed in our dream from the beginning, and continue to help us expand our program.
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