School of Dentistry Provides Care at Missouri Mission of Mercy
Dozens of University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry students, faculty and alumni volunteered their expertise at the most recent Missouri Mission of Mercy.
Missouri Mission of Mercy, in its fifth year, is a large-scale temporary dental clinic that provides free oral healthcare to patients of all ages who cannot otherwise afford or access care. Doors were open to patients at 5 a.m. Aug. 12 and 13 at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence, Missouri.
Nationwide since 2000, Mission of Mercy clinics have provided nearly $123 million in dental services to more than 203,000 patients. Oral healthcare providers who volunteered in 2015 at Missouri Mission of Mercy delivered $1,011,621 in free care to 1,723 patients. Throughout the years in the state, more than 4,000 dental and general volunteers have provided almost $4 million in free care to more than 7,000 patients.
Ten UMKC faculty and more than 50 UMKC School of Dentistry students volunteered at this year’s event. Missouri Mission of Mercy not only enables UMKC participants to provide much needed free dental care, it also serves as a great example for students to see how they can give back to their community.