It’s a beautiful, sunny day and I’m at home relaxing after three incredibly busy days.

The sixth Minnesota Mission of Mercy wrapped up yesterday.  About 1,500 volunteers including dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, dental therapists, translators, and lay volunteers worked together to provide free dental care for patients who would otherwise not be able to afford treatment. Services included cleanings, fillings, root canals on select teeth, extractions, and oral hygiene instruction. Patients were seen from 5:30 am to 5:00 pm. In two days of the event, 1492 patient encounters and over $900,000 dental care was provided.

As a co-lead of the X-ray, I spent most of Thursday setting up our department.  We had three intraoral X-ray machines and six panoramic machines donated for use at the event and well as nine computer/monitor setups for running the machines and printing images. On Friday and Saturday, we saw over 800 patients for radiographs.

Kelli, the clinic supervisor of my dental practice (Dentistry for Children and Adolescents), has volunteered in the X-ray department every year.  She is an awesome employee who is really fun to work side-by-side with.

For me, it is a nice change to work in X-ray rather than treating pediatric patients.  One of my partners, however, does volunteer in the Kid’s Clinic.  Dr. Sally Schuette, along with two of our office assistants, Wendi and Teum, spent several hours treating kids.  And, when the pediatric patients were all treated, they even treated a couple adult patients. 

It was an fulfilling weekend.  May God Bless all the volunteers!