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Connecticut Mission of Mercy
The first Mission of Mercy took place on
April 12-13 in Tolland, CT in 2008
(See a video belwo). Approximately 1,100 patients
were seen, and $500,000 worth of dental care was
provided. Connecticut Mission of Mercy
(CTMOM)
2009 returned on April 17-18 at the New Haven Public
Field House (480 Sherman Pkwy) New Haven, CT.
Approximately 1,800 patients were treated, and $750,000
worth of dental care was provided. CTMOM 2010 provided
dental care to 2,049 patients on March 12-13 in
Middletown, CT.
Mark your
calendars, CTMOM will be back in 2011
from April 15-16. The location will be
announced at a later date.
History of the
Mission of Mercy
The scenarios faced during MOM projects
will both break and warm hearts. It is
an opportunity to come face to face with
the people who have nowhere else to
turn. For many individuals living on
small incomes or without
dental insurance, dental care is
a luxury that they cannot afford. Many
go for years, sometimes even decades
without seeing a dentist. In rural
communities with a significant
impoverished population, individuals
(primarily the working poor, the
elderly, the disabled, or the uninsured)
are often left without any dental care,
and face extreme pain, discomfort, and
embarrassment. In response to the lack
of access to care and the resulting poor
oral health of thousands of indigent
citizens, the
Virginia Dental Health Foundation
launched the first Mission of Mercy
(MOM) in 2001 and began to “make caring
visible.” Mission of Mercy (MOM)
projects have broken two and three day
records for the largest dental outreach
clinics ever conducted in the United
States. Since the inception of the
program, $7.4 million of
free dental care has been
delivered to more than 18,000 Mission of
Mercy patients as of
2007.
Mission of Mercy projects are conducted
in identified, underserved areas where
there are not enough dental
practitioners to adequately address the
oral health needs of the
community. Any individual who is able to
show up on site is considered eligible.
The intentions of Mission of Mercy
projects are not to judge, but rather to
serve. The need for charitable dental
care in Connecticut is no different.
Ironically, thousands of Connecticut
residents have difficulty accessing
dental care, for the same reasons faced
by others in less affluent states. For
this reason, the Connecticut State
Dental Association (CSDA)
embarked upon its first Mission
of Mercy project
in 2008. There is no answer for
the provision of dental care for adults
on the horizon. For this reason alone a
MOM project will provide care to those
who have no hope of receiving care
through our present
health care system. The numbers
of adults and children are staggering
and it is the hope of the Connecticut
Dental Association to help those in need
of oral health care.
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