the opportunity to train general practitioners on anterior cases. “That could really impact the patient’s ability to get a job,” he said. “I don’t just do root canals there, occasionally we’ll extract teeth, do an overall comprehensive exam or an oral cancer screening, I do whatever we can for the time they’re there.” “Our patients are mostly undocumented,” says Peggy Leitch, RN, Mercy Clinic’s executive director. “They’ve never been to a dentist in their life. The idea is to see as many people as we can.” The Foundation’s funding support for endodontic materials and supplies has been especially critical to nonprofits as the battle against COVID wages on and precious charitable dollars need to be reallocated to maintain operations. “It’s been harder adapting to what COVID brought upon us, needing more PPE, and more paid staff,” Leitch added. “It’s hard to look a 65-year-old volunteer in the
face and ask them to come in and work. Our whole staff were either in the vulnerable category or they were taking great risk at their regular jobs. Foundations have stepped up a great deal.”
Mercy Clinic, established in 2011, provides medical and dental services to the uninsured and impoverished residents of inner-city Fort Worth, serving areas with among the lowest life expectancies in the state of Texas. All medical and dental providers are volunteers. The two-chair dental clinic offers oral health examinations, digital radiography (including panoramic), dental prophylaxis, restorative dentistry, endodontics, and oral surgery. There are 10 general dentists, two endodontists and a periodontist on the dental team roster, along with an on-site pharmacy. Dr. Francisco Nieves grew up on the south side of Fort Worth, a mostly Hispanic area which he describes as having “so many people who don’t have access to care or funds, they’re working three jobs and they can’t find a clinic that will see them at nighttime. Life happens and they’re spending all their money on their family and can’t take care of themselves. Anything we can do to help them out, a cleaning or an extraction or a root canal, means money they can use to pay the rent.” Nieves started volunteering at Mercy Clinic at the invitation of a classmate from dental school whose former practice owner had been a volunteer at the clinic. He is also glad to have
“ Anything we can do to help them out, a cleaning or an extraction or a root canal, means money they can use to pay the rent. ” – Dr. Francisco Nieves
How could YOU change a patient's life? Apply by June 1, 2022. Visit aae.org/foundation/AccessUSA
10
foundation.aae.org
Made with FlippingBook Proposal Creator