The young man was one of hundreds of patients who
received dental care at the 2016 MOM-n-PA “Mission of
Mercy” event held June 3-4 in Pittsburgh. The two-day
free dental clinic drew hundreds of dentists, hygienists
and volunteers from across Pennsylvania.
The young man wasn’t the only patient happy to receive
free dental care.
“The services were excellent,” said Norris Fields, who was
quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Fields had a tooth
extracted and three fillings.
Dr. Gary Davis, MOM-n-PA chairman, said the free dental
clinic, which was held at the David L. Lawrence Convention
Center, could serve as many as 1,000 patients per day.
He estimated that the volunteer dentists and other health
care providers would donate nearly $1 million in services.
This was the fourth MOM event in Pennsylvania, following
Philadelphia (2013), Allentown (2014) and Harrisburg (2015).
Overall, Dr. Davis said, the number of patients was down
from previous years. However, he said, the number of
procedures was about the same.
That meant more patients received multiple services
during a visit to the clinic. In past years, patients were
allowed to receive one procedure before getting back
in line or coming back on the second day.
“We could not do this without the help of hundreds of
volunteer dentists, health care workers and community
members,” Dr. Davis said. “And we certainly couldn’t serve all
these people without the generous donations of our sponsors.”
This year’s premier sponsors included UPMC Health Plan,
TeleTracking Technologies, United Concordia Dental and
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. A list of all the sponsors
for the 2016 MOM-n-PA event is available at the mission’s
website at: www.mom-n-pa.com.
Davis noted that nearly 40 percent of the patients at past
MOM events reported being in pain when they arrived for
dental services.
“We thought that was kind of alarming,” Davis told the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We see it as an emergency
situation. For that many people to be in pain, I think there’s
something wrong with our system.”
The Tribune-Review reported on a bus driver who cannot
afford dental insurance with her part-time job. She learned
about the clinic through Facebook. She had experienced
pain in a lower tooth for about two weeks. The volunteer
dentist removed that tooth and an upper tooth, which she
didn’t know she had, causing issues with her dentures.
“Everybody was really nice,” she said.
Her remarks were echoed by another patient, who told
public radio WESA, “I just had nine teeth removed, because
I’m trying