900+ WDA Mission of Mercy volunteers, including DORL Secretary Jackson and five state legislators, bringing free dental care to La Crosse
WEST ALLIS, WIS., June 22, 2009 – Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing Secretary Celia Jackson, five state legislators and several Dentistry Examining Board members and Department of Health Services staff will help the Wisconsin Dental Association and WDA Foundation’s first Mission of Mercy (MOM) provide free dental care to 1,200 children and adults June 26 – 27 at the La Crosse Center, 300 Harborview Plaza.
Doors open at 6 a.m. A maximum 600 patients will be treated each day on a first-come, first-served basis. Cleanings, fillings, extractions and limited treatment partials will be offered with an estimated total value of $600,000.
Adults and children of all ages who are uninsured, underinsured or otherwise unable to visit a dental office and do not have a medically-compromising condition, such as extremely high blood pressure or severe disabilities, that prohibits receiving care are welcome. Children under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The free care is provided by utilizing a team of more than 900 volunteers including dentists, dental hygienists and assistants, dental students, community members and state policymakers and staff. Helping provide patient care during the two-day event will be several dentists and dental hygienists from the DEB and DHS Division of Public Health.
Scheduled to help with tasks such as greeting visitors, registering patients and escorting individuals through the treatment process are state Assembly members Reps. Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), Tom Nelson (D-Kaukauna) and Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse). Also volunteering at MOM are state Sens. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center). In addition, Reps. Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau) and Donna Seidel (D-Wausau) are expected to tour the MOM event this Friday.
WDA MOM volunteers include 10 dentists and hygienists from four other states. They are 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. Reps. Shilling and Danou and Sens. Kapanke and Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) worked with their colleagues to secure timely, bipartisan passage of the charity dental care permit legislation that Gov. Jim Doyle signed last month.
Monetary and in-kind donations from more than 100 organizations, businesses, dental supply companies and individuals are helping cover $138,000 in dental equipment and facility rental, supplies, pharmaceuticals and food costs for this major charitable care event that includes setup on June 25 and cleanup on June 28.
Corporate partners include 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 are the 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.
Tax-deductible financial donations and in-kind contributions to help support this and future Mission of Mercy events 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.
“Charity care is not a dental access solution, because the need to organize clinical logistics makes it less efficient and more costly than providing care in private dental offices,” explains WDA Vice President and MOM State Chair Dr. Gene Shoemaker of Waukesha. “This Mission of Mercy provides an opportunity to challenge low-income patients, state policymakers and dental professionals to work together to improve all Wisconsin residents’ oral health.”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 http://www.wda.org