by JANET FURNEAUX • SPRINGFIELD
Before the doors opened and the first patient came into the waiting area at the first MOMOM, I stood in awe of the transformation that our fairground e-plex had undergone in the past 24 hours. It went from empty rooms to a fully functioning dental clinic. Dentists, assistants and volunteers all at their posts, ready with smiling faces to welcome their first guests—patients who had waited all night to receive caring, compassionate dental treatment. I’m not a dentist, but I go to my dentist twice a
year—and, our dentists just happen to be Sarah, Darren and Charles Mahaffey (yes that Sarah and Dar- ren). I also occasionally play golf with a dentist—Dr. Cheryl Haley—and that is how my volunteering for MOMOM came to fruition. During a round of golf with Cheryl, she mentioned she was involved with MOMOM and what a huge event it was going to be. I thought “that sounds wonderful” and then went di- rectly back to the tee box where my thought turned to “please let me hit a good drive”. And, honestly, that was the last I thought about the event, until my husband, John (who is a registered nurse and would become the lead of the MOMOM medial triage area) came home from his dentist appointment and said that we had been asked to help plan this “MOMOM dental clinic thing.”
During the year in planning, I sat
in amazement at the meetings listen- ing to all the requirements to put on the clinic … from the smallest of dental instruments and importance of sterilization capabilities, to the huge quantities of food that would be needed for the volunteers and pa- tients. I learned we would need about 1,000 volunteers to help as many as 1,800 patients. The numbers were overwhelming, but the Committee dissected the project piece by piece and then put the huge puzzle back together. The day before the event while we were setting
everything up, I peeked out the door. Our guests were already lining up—more than 12 hours before the doors were to open. Tears came to my eyes as I realized the pain most of these patients had to be in to wait long hours in the cold all night to receive much needed dental care. During the next two days the hours flew by, but the patients’ faces, smiles and gratitude are something I will always remember. The dentists, their assistants and medical staff were able to directly affect the smiles on these patients’ faces. I watched in awe as patient after patient gave their dentist and hygienist hugs. I watched their faces as they looked in the mirror—some smiling without
by DEANNA AND GENE GROVER, DDS • ST. JAMES
We recently added an associate to our office. This has given us the time to do some of the things we have always talked about doing, but never had the time. We have always wanted to do volunteer work in other countries. We enjoyed the hospitality we received from the people during our travels and felt like this would be a good way of repaying them. With that being said, we were watching a national channel that showed a
free dental clinic in Atlanta, similar to MOMOM. It showed hundreds of people lined up around the block waiting for dental treatment. When we saw this, we realized the need in our own country and heard of the MOMOM in Springfield. That is when we decided we would volunteer for it. We initially planned to go only one day, but in the end, decided to do both.
We really didn’t know what to expect. We went down the first night for orien- tation, and at that point we saw people waiting in line for treatment. When we pulled into the fairgrounds at 4:30 a.m. Friday morning, we could not believe what we saw in the dim light of the parking lots. You could see people lined up all over the hillside waiting to get in for treatment. While the entire event was awe-inspiring, we were both amazed by two things in particular: the logistics that were involved in setting up the MOMOM, and how appreciative the patients were. Everyone was extremely friendly and most of all, the patients we treated were so thankful. Even though we saw many patients over the two days, two really warmed
Janet oversaw volunteer registration for the event. On Thursday evening hundreds of volunteers gathered on for an orientation to the weekend event and their important parts to make it all happen.
covering their mouths for the first time in years. As to the other 700+ volunteers—their tasks were just as important as those who provided direct care … everything from setting up chairs, putting forms on clipboards, fixing breakfasts and lunches, and delivering patients from station to station. They welcomed them into the clinic, took care of them during the entire process and escorted them to the exit, treating each patient with the dig and compassion they so rightly deserved. The huge smiles on the patients’ faces were a direct results of all 1,000+ volunteers.
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As a “lay volunteer” it was an honor to be a part of such an amazing event. I didn’t clean any teeth, fill a cavity or do an extraction, but I hope that II hope that I helped put a little bit of the smiles on the patients faces. I know they had a direct impact on my heart, and I went home each evening exhausted, but with a very big smile of my own.
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our hearts. The first young lady had received endodontic treatment on teeth #8 and #9. The teeth were severely broken down, and ideally, would require crowns. One of the clinic leads approached us and asked if we would be willing to do large composite restorations for this young lady. We did … and when we finished and found a mirror for her to see—just a small mouth mirror was all we could find—she burst into tears and told us she hadn’t been able to smile in years because she was so embarrassed of her teeth. Needless to say, she also brought tears to our eyes. Our second case was a Native American young woman who had been trau-
matized by dental treatment in the past. She originally had been scheduled to have her front teeth removed and a partial placed, but we were approached by the same clinic lead who wanted us to see if we could calm her down enough to restore her teeth. After much talking, and with her husband hold- ing her hand, we were able to do the treatment. Again, when we showed her the final results, she began to cry uncontrollably and gave us both a big hug. Although we feel that we truly made a difference in these people’s lives,
we both agree that they also touched our lives in a very positive way. We look forward to the next MOMOM.
NOV/DEC 2011 | focus 29
Dental teams like the Grovers helped needy Missourians waiting to receive care each of the two days—many camping overnight.
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