Dentistry from the heart

Any individual who has suffered toothache or any oral pain can agree that access to dental care is essential. Oral health problems can be so debilitating that they can make day to day tasks impossible. In many western countries, the government offers dental care to increase its accessibility to all people no matter what their socio economic background. In America however 64 billion is spent annually on oral health and only 4% of this is paid by government programs. 

Healthy teeth and gums are essential for general well being. Unfortunately, most insures do not include  dentistry in their policies resulting in approximately 108 million Americans lacking dental insurance. 

Help from the heart

Dentistry from the Heart founder Dr Vincent J. Monticciolo started the Florida based not-for-profit organisation 16 years ago. They organise ‘Free Dentistry for a Day’ events to give back to the American community. This year (2017) the event will be held on November 19th at the Highlands Ranch on South University Boulevard thanks to Highlands Ranch Smiles. On the day, anyone over the age of 18 will be able to receive free dental care.

The organisation acknowledges that the mouth is the gateway to the body and that maintaining oral hygiene not only improves an individual’s outward appearance and confidence, but it’s essential for their health.

Providing treatment across America

With the choice of either filling, extraction or cleaning dependent on patient requirements, their events have grown from a singular annual event to hundreds across North America each year. DFTH has now given free dental care to communities in all 50 states of America, Hawaii, Canada and New Zealand. One event saw 46 volunteers perform over $20,000 USD in free dental care which included 102 procedures on 76 patients.

Dentistry from the heart promises that the first 100 attendees will be seen on the day. If you would like to reach out and offer any kind of assistance to the team at Dentistry from the heart, you can contact them at smile@dentistryfromtheheart.org