By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
For many, the dentist's office is often a daunting medical visit with an atmosphere of tentative calm.
The scene at Tony's Pizza Event Center contrasted this norm, with many patients, adults and children alike, arriving with smiles, ready to receive donated treatment by local and out-of-state dental professionals.
On Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12 and 13, the Kansas Mission of Mercy, or KMOM, visited Salina and donated more than $400,000 in dental care to the community.
Many families visited the clinic, where KMOM provided children's appointments while also treating parents.
Due to the inclement weather, staff opened the doors to the event center during the night to allow visitors to wait inside a waiting room through the early morning hours.
Although volunteers intend to accept visitors for as long as possible throughout Friday and Saturday, staffing limitations and ranging dental treatments caused KMOM's doors to close at 9 a.m.
KMOM staff continued to attend children's appointments throughout the day. Inside the clinic floor at the children's station, a small TV playing children's cartoons entertained visitors while waiting.
According to Independence dentist and long-time volunteer Dr. Cindi Sherwood, each patients' needs are different, and to ensure those already inside the venue received proper care before the event ended, they had to end walk-ins early.
Sherwood said she has volunteered for the last 21 KMOM events and found giving back to the community is important for her as a professional.
"It's very heartwarming. As a professional, I feel you should give back, and it's really fun," Sherwood said. "It's hard work — many volunteers like me really like doing it, or you don't. Some people come and do it and decide, 'It's not for me.' but I think it's very rewarding."
Most dental volunteers begin treating patients as early as 5 a.m. but wake up earlier to prepare stations and sanitize tools and surfaces.
The KMOM process
Once visitors arrived at the clinic, staff had them wait inside a side room of Tony's Pizza Event Center while filling out health information and other documents.
After providing that information, volunteer dentists would perform panoramic X-rays and a general examination before sending them to the clinic floor in the venue's main arena.
"They go from X-rays to dental triage where the dentist takes a look at them to see what they need and what the patient wants to have done," Sherwood said.
When patients reach the clinic floor, some receive hundreds or even thousands of dollars in free dental care.
The Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation has produced the KMOM event for 23 years and, throughout that time, has donated more than $22,500,000 in dental care.
"We fill in that gap for those with no alternative to seek the treatment they need," said Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation Executive Director Niki Sadler. "We're that format where they can come and get that treatment and get out of pain to get their smile back and feel better."
More than 12,000 professional dentists have donated their time in the last two decades to the organization. Each year a volunteer joins the event, they earn a star on their name tag
According to Sadler, the Salina KMOM reached more than $400,000 in donated care by Saturday morning.
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"I have a lot of extractions that have to get done, which were very expensive," said Great Bend resident Selena Armstrong. "This has saved me hundreds if not thousands of dollars."
Armstrong said she has struggled to find quality dental care for all her medical needs in her local community but saw the quality and care from volunteers at the clinic.
"With all the time the volunteers have put into this, it's very emotional," Armstrong said.
Barton Community College offered to help transport students to the clinic, where Armstrong and her boyfriend, Brandon Goodwin, joined the journey and received general dental care.
The group traveled to Salina on Friday and stayed in a hotel to wait outdoors early on Saturday.
Many clinic patrons mirrored Armstrong and Goodwin, traveling the day before and waiting in line for hours to receive dental treatment.
"I don't have dental insurance, so I came to get my teeth cleaned," Goodwin said. "It made me feel good and confident, and I got to learn about how to take care of my mouth a lot better today."
KMOM staff recommended visitors plan well in advance for the clinic, arriving the night before or early the same morning to get a spot before seats fill.
Although the doors may close to visitors through the days of the event, staff will work to accept new patients later in the day to continue providing treatment.