Our team at Lake Baldwin Dental truly cares about oral health. In fact, some of us are so dedicated that their idea of a fun weekend is volunteering to give dental care to underserved populations in our city. That is just what Dr. Huy Tran, along with hygienists Alicia and Megan, did this Friday!
Florida Mission of Mercy is an outreach program organized and funded by the Florida Dental Association Foundation. It is a philanthropic venture to help provide dental care for underserved and uninsured individuals throughout Florida. Many children and special needs patients also benefit from Mission of Mercy events. There are a few FLA-MOM events throughout the state of Florida each year. Each event spans a few days and provides somewhere around two million dollars’ worth of care to thousands of patients. Here in Orlando, Edgewater High School offered their facilities and volunteers took over, filling their gymnasium with portable dental units. They worked tirelessly, providing everything from basic cleanings to fillings and even oral surgery at no cost to the patients. Patients were lined up earlier than five o’clock in the morning to get care from these amazing volunteers.
Dr. Tran has participated in these types of volunteer events for years, and always looks forward to them. He is overwhelmed by the gratitude he receives from the patients. Many of these patients have no access to dental care, and for many of them these events are life changing. In particular, one patient from this weekend stands out in Dr. Tran’s mind. The gentleman had recently overcome a drug problem and the death of his long time girlfriend, had moved to Orlando and was trying to earn a fresh start in life. This patient told Dr. Tran that the fillings and care he got at Mission of Mercy felt like the first step to his new life. The clinicians were able to get this patient out of pain and into a stable, healthy state so that he could go to job interviews with confidence.
Even something as simple as x-rays, some home care education, and a cleaning can make all the difference in the world for patients who have had no access to a dental clinic in their past. Megan helped a middle aged woman who had never had a cleaning, and she was beyond grateful for the help in protecting her gums and her oral health. Alicia not only cleaned teeth, but also got to assist on procedures like extractions, which hygienists rarely get to do in our regular daily schedule. Volunteer events like these help keep our whole community smiling!
