WE DID
6,098
PROCEDURES in WIlkes-Barre.
If you have never been a volunteer, I urge you to come to next year’ s MOM-n-PA mission. Every volunteer receives self-satisfaction that is hard to describe. The patients are a subset of the population that most of us never see. And, you might never have patients show so much appreciation. Beyond all of that, the bonus is the camaraderie that develops among all of the volunteers.
We treated 809 patients in Wilkes-Barre. This was around 60 % of the usual number of patients we see. The Local Committee expended a lot of effort getting the word out, so this wasn’ t a case of the community not knowing about us. And there are plenty of people in the community who need us. The last time we were in Wilkes-Barre we had more than twice as many patients treated. One theory was that many of the prospective patients were concerned about a possible raid from ICE.
The bright side of having fewer patients was that we had the opportunity to do more procedures for each person. We did 6,098 procedures, which is just about our average, and donated $ 889,596 worth of free dentistry, the sixth highest figure of our 12 missions. That works out to an average of $ 1,099 per patient! I mentioned the appreciation these patients have for what we do. Just about 98 % of our patients gave us a 4 or 5 rating for the service they received at the Wilkes-Barre mission, and 93 % gave us a 5! We helped so many people who were suffering, with nearly one-third of the patients( 32.22 %) stating they were in pain before coming to the clinic.
We are hoping to return to Harrisburg next year, a place we have not been since 2015.
Stay tuned for the details!
JULY / AUGUST 2025 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 13