Something to smile about
BY MEREDITH DAVISON AND CAITLIN DRYKE
This past fall, Smiles of Faith, a mobile dental clinic, began seeing patients for free dental care. It was a day that had been in the works for a long time.
Dr. Nicole Nellis, president of the Smiles of Faith board, explained. “We started this project all the way back in 2018 (when we began) to look at what could we do to help our friends in the north Tulsa community.” Dr. Nellis continued, “We did some research. And it quickly became apparent that there was a need for access to dental care in the north Tulsa community. Many people living here just don’t have access to care, and they end up at the local ERs when they have a dental emergency, and about all they can get is antibiotics.”
A joint venture
Out of the recognition of that need was born the Smiles of Faith program, a mobile dental bus that provides free dental care while operating out of the parking lots of the five partner churches – Boston Avenue UMC, Metropolitan Baptist Church, Historic Vernon AME Church, Centenary UMC, and Morningstar Baptist Church.
Even as the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the program launch, the Board of Directors invested energy in planning, fundraising, preparing, and recruiting. Smiles of Faith is organized as a non-profit corporation and 501c3 entity. This allows the organization to operate with all the collaborative partners, pursue a variety of fundraising approaches, and not compete with any of the churches.
A perfect fit
Staffing this program was an important part of the development process. Davison noted, “Part of the reason it took so long for us to get started is that we wanted to find the right kind of people. We’re using a new model – most free dental clinics have relied upon volunteer dentists, which is wonderful when dentists can give their time voluntarily, but unfortunately, it doesn’t provide consistent care when they go on vacation and other things happen. Also, when you have volunteer dentists, you don’t have continuity of care. In other words, you do not have the person who saw you last month when you broke a tooth.”
Recruiting staff members with the skills, as well as the vision and passion for this new program, was painstaking and time consuming. But the Board of Directors persevered and late this summer were able to hire a dentist, Dr. Jason Holland, and dental assistant, Sarah Donaldson. “These are the most grateful patients that I have ever served. I’m definitely honored to be part of this group and I definitely feel at home already. There’s great support in the community for this effort,” remarked Dr. Holland, who had previously worked as a dentist for the Cherokee Nation.
This fall the team was completed when Dr. Jessica McGhee was hired as permanent Executive Director. She was already knowledgeable about the Smiles of Faith clinic since she is a member and pastor at one of the partner churches, Metropolitan Baptist Church.
A great start
Since the clinic began its “soft” launch in late September, the clinic has been highly successful with over 100 patients have been seen, 368 dental procedures completed, and 93% of the patients coming from the targeted north side of Tulsa. The clinic, which operated three days a week, is already booked for appointments for the first two weeks of January.
An invocation
Rev. Ray Owens, of Metropolitan Baptist Church, captured the mood of many involved with Smiles of Faith during his invocation at the clinic’s launch. “Gracious and all wise God, we thank you for the gift of ideas and thoughts to help us to identify needs right here in our community. We thank you for the mission-minded men and women who have come together and put their heads, their hands, and hearts into the work of identifying a way to provide for this very special need. I pray for the staff who will make sure that every patient is treated with great care and thank you for faith that allowed us to not only see the vision, but to realize that this vision, we pray for all of those who will be healed, helped, and lifted up by these efforts. This we pray in your heart’s name, Amen.”
Meredith Davison is a founding Board Member and former Interim Executive Director of Smiles of Faith as well as a member of BAUMC; Caitlin Dryke is the Communications Director at Boston Avenue UMC