PHOENIX — The 11th annual Arizona Dental Mission of Mercy kicked off its two-day event at the Veterans' Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix Friday morning, with the goal of helping as many people as possible get the dental work they need.
More than 300 volunteer dentists and a support staff of 1,200, including dental hygienists, dental assistants, translators, lab and medical personnel, data entry, and other volunteers, turned the Coliseum into a large-scale dental clinic, where adults and children can get critical dental work done at no cost on a first-come, first-served basis.
“While we’ve been providing dental services through AZMOM for a decade, the lines don’t get shorter,” said AzDA Cares Board President Kevin Earle. “Dental challenges often prevent people from being able to eat nutritiously, apply for many types of jobs, or socially connect. Sadly, we see the most significant need for preventative dental treatment amongst our most vulnerable populations – the elderly, veterans, and children.”
The dental professionals utilize 100 portable dental units to focus on relieving pain and infection.
Dental services such as fillings, extractions, and cleanings, as well as limited lab work and dentures, will be provided to patients of all ages.
AzDA Cares said it relies on significant sponsorships from a variety of organizations, including Delta Dental Foundation, AzDA Perks, Arizona Dental Association, United Concordia, Henry Schein Foundation, Patterson Foundation, Alliance Bank, and numerous other corporate sponsors and individual donors to put on the AZMOM event each year.
Hundreds of people lined up as early as 3 a.m. outside the Coliseum Friday for the event.
Treatment will be performed Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Event organizers said early Friday, though, that if you head down to the event today, they cannot guarantee you will be seen due to the large volume of people that had already lined up.
They said they believed they were nearing capacity for both days already.
AzDA does these events regularly and will post more information on its website as soon as details for the next event are confirmed.
