FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WEST ALLIS, WIS., June 30, 2009 – The Wisconsin Dental Association and WDA Foundation’s first Mission of Mercy was an overwhelming success with 1,533 children and adults receiving more than $850,000 in free dental care last Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27, at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis.

Twenty-seven percent more patients than originally anticipated received treatments which exceeded the original value estimate by 41 percent. Care included fillings, extractions and cleanings. Four dental labs working with technicians from Wisconsin and Minnesota created 135 treatment partials and repaired 18 – 20 dentures.

The WDA Mission of Mercy doors opened at 6 a.m. and care concluded by 5:30 p.m. both days. A total 721 patients were treated Friday. Intermittent rain couldn’t deter 812 individuals from getting care on Saturday.

A team of 903 volunteers, including 170 dentists, 87 dental hygienists and numerous dental assistants, dental students and community members from across Wisconsin and several other states provided the free care. WDA MOM volunteers included 10 dentists and hygienists from four other states. They were the first to utilize Wisconsin’s new temporary, no-fee permit for out-of-state dental professionals wanting to travel here and volunteer at charitable care programs.

Also helping provide patient support and care were Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing Secretary Celia Jackson and a member of her staff and several dentists and dental hygienists from the Dentistry Examining Board and Department of Health Services’ Division of Public Health.

Touring the event and, in some cases, also helping greet visitors, register patients or escort patients were state Reps. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse), Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), Lee Nerison (R-Westby) and Jerry Petrowski (R-Marathon) and state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse). La Crosse Mayor Matt Harter also visited the MOM event.

Some 100 organizations, businesses, dental supply companies and individuals, including Courtesy Corporation (McDonald’s), Kwik Trip and Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of La Crosse, provided monetary and in-kind donations to help cover $138,000 in dental equipment and facility rental, supplies, pharmaceuticals and food costs for the event that involved setup on June 25 and cleanup on June 28.

Corporate partners included Delta Dental of Wisconsin, Henry Schein Dental, American Orthodontics, La Crosse Community Foundation, Henry Schein Employee Sunshine Committee and the Ho-Chunk Nation. Other collaborating organizations were America's Dentists Care Foundation, Cleary Management, La Crosse Area Dental Care Advocacy Coalition, La Crosse County Health Department, La Crosse District Dental Society, Logistics Health, Marquette University School of Dentistry and Viterbo School of Nursing. A complete list of MOM donors is available on WDA.org.  

“La Crosse community businesses, organizations and residents were outstanding in their generosity, support and enthusiasm. We couldn’t have picked a better place for our first Mission of Mercy,” says WDA Vice President and Mission of Mercy State Chair Dr. Gene Shoemaker of Waukesha, Wis.

Tax-deductible financial donations and in-kind contributions to help support projects that provide dental care to the underserved, like Mission of Mercy, and other dental-related philanthropic endeavors in Wisconsin may be made to the WDA Foundation. Visit www.wda.org for more information.

In addition to providing charitable care in their private offices and volunteering their time and skills at local community clinics and through outreach programs like Give Kids A Smile and MOM, an estimated 1,300 Wisconsin-licensed dentists provide care through the state’s dental Medicaid, BadgerCare and BadgerCare Plus medical assistance (MA) programs.

About 1 million low-income individuals, or 20 percent of Wisconsin residents, are beneficiaries of MA coverage in a 12-month period. Fee-for-service data from the Department of Health and Family Service’s Dental Medicaid Fact Sheet for Fiscal Year 2006 (most recent available) shows $74 million in dental care services provided to MA patients. The state and federal governments paid $32 million (44 percent) of those charges. Thus, participating dentists donated $42 million to the state’s MA program in FY ’06 or more than the Wisconsin and U.S. governments combined.

“I want to thank all the volunteers who came together to make this a great event,” said Shilling. “The MOM event is a great way to continue raising awareness about the need to increase access to dental care for thousands of Wisconsin residents. Short term care is important, but we must continue to work toward a long-term solution to this medical crisis.”

As Shoemaker noted last Saturday, “This was a life-changing weekend for Mission of Mercy patients and volunteers!”

As additional statistics, photos, patient comments, volunteer testimonials, videos and links to media coverage from this first large-scale dental care event in Wisconsin become available they are being posted on WDA.org in the Mission of Mercy media room.

Established in 1870, the Wisconsin Dental Association is headquartered in West Allis. With more than 2,900 members statewide, the WDA represents the vast majority of practicing dentists in Wisconsin. Its members are committed to promoting professional excellence and quality oral health care. The WDA is one of 53 constituent (state-territorial) dental societies of the American Dental Association - the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. For more information on the WDA, call 414-276-4520 or visit www.wda.org.