Brush, Floss and Smile

One of my clients is the Nebraska Dental Association and today I witnessed their annual Mission of Mercy event. Wow. NMOM is a two-day event in which hundreds of dental professionals from across the state volunteer their time to provide free dental care to those in-need.

Did you catch that? Free.

I admit I take dental care for granted. I always went to the dentist twice a year (except when I had the tongue ring and I was trying to hide it from Dr. S.). I grew up around dentists and now have a lot of friends and family in the profession. I wanted to BE a dentist. (Still have the dentist Barbie Michelle gave me.) But there are a lot of people that simply can't afford a trip to the dentist or don't have access to good dental health. Take these two stories I heard today:

1. An elderly man who was told by his dentist he needed four crowns. They are about $600 each. He was saving up for them, until he learned about NMOM on the news this morning. (Yay for the PR team :).) He can now put that money to good use on something just as important.

2. A woman with four kids was nearly in tears she was so moved by NMOM. Her one year old had two open heart surgeries last year. Because of the medical bills, finances are tight and they had to cancel their dental insurance. Today she and her four kids were able to get a much-needed dental check-up.

I've never seen anything quite like NMOM. It transformed Papillion-LaVista South High School into a fully functioning dental office. Patients registered and then went for a medical and dental exam to determine the services they needed today. They then went to anesthesia, if necessary, and then it was off to their service - anything ranging from a simple cleaning to oral surgery. I wish everyone could have experienced if first-hand. Omaha media was all over this story. I'll post links to the most powerful clips as they are posted online.

In a related, yet totally unrelated note, dentist Barbie is going anywhere from $79.00 - $99.00 on Amazon and eBay. I'm glad I didn't toss her out 906's window after receiving my biology grade! (Michelle, Megan and Shannon - I know you are laughing right now.)