Through Missions of Mercy, the VCU School of Dentistry provides Virginia’s rural populations with much-needed access to care.
Where you live affects your oral health. One of the largest factors in your ability to access dental care services in Virginia is geography. While the state’s large population centers may have a surplus of dentists and higher paying jobs, in rural areas the ratio can be as low as one dentist to more than 5,000 individuals and average household incomes are lower.
Ten years ago, the Virginia Dental Association partnered with the Virginia Health Care Foundation and the VCU School of Dentistry and initiated Missions of Mercy to help provide dental care for uninsured and underserved rural populations of Virginia.
“The Mission of Mercy projects provide dental treatment for patients who have difficulty finding care near their homes,” said Carol Brooks, D.D.S., VCU School of Dentistry faculty member and clinical director of the missions. “Many of the patients who seek care are indigent, on disability or elderly. Through the Missions of Mercy, our students have the chance to reach out and help people who have extreme dental needs and at the same time demonstrate a service-mindedness that is so important to our profession.”
From the humble beginnings of six beach chairs staffed by dental residents in Wise County’s Lonesome Pine Airport hangar, the projects have grown and multiplied. In 2009, a total of 34 portable dental chairs filled an oversized tent at the Wise County Fairgrounds. Additional missions have been hosted in many areas of the state, including the Eastern Shore, Goochland County, Northern Virginia, Norfolk, Petersburg, Grundy, Emporia and Martinsville.
During the missions, the VCU School of Dentistry plays a vital role not only in giving care, but also in providing staffing support, transportation and delivery of many volunteers including dental students, dental hygiene students, advanced education students, faculty and staff. Virginia’s MOM projects have broken records for the largest two- and three-day dental outreach clinics ever conducted in the U.S. They have served as models for other states who now conduct their own missions.
The Wise Mission of Mercy takes place each year during the last weekend in July. Students and volunteer dentists set up a field clinic that, in many respects, resembles a MASH unit. For three days, portable dental chairs, dental units, X-ray machines and sterilization facilities comprise the clinical space.
The clinic accommodates thousands of patients who start lining up the night before to ensure that they will see a dentist. When volunteer students see crowds of people standing in line at 6 a.m., it’s usually their first glimpse of some of the many patients they will treat over the long weekend.
Students eagerly seek this experience and apply for the opportunity to be part of project.
“We choose students to attend based on their record of teamwork, ability to follow instructions and clinical skill,” Brooks said. “Our students want to help and accept responsibility when it comes to doing the extra things that it takes to make this project great.”
Faculty and other volunteer dentists supervise and instruct the students. Time moves quickly with an effort to provide at least one procedure for every person who seeks treatment.
“I have never met people who were so appreciative and friendly as I did at the Wise MOM Project,” said Oscar Vega, a third-year VCU dental student. “Every single patient I encountered thanked me for donating my time and efforts to relieve them from pain. It made my experience unforgettable and something that I will cherish forever.”
