From the #deltadentalARFoundation: Eating, speaking, smiling—most of us do it all the time without giving it any thought.

Unless you don’t have your teeth. 

Imagine you’re an adult missing most or all of your teeth. Routine activities become agonizing trials: You can’t bite into a crunchy apple or chew a steak. You mumble at job interviews because you can’t enunciate clearly. You don’t want to smile into a camera for fear the photo will reveal large gaps in your mouth.
 
And what if, perhaps worst of all, you lack the money for dental treatment?

The Community Dental Clinic of Fort Smith has made it its mission to help such Arkansans. A program of the Crawford Sebastian County Development Council, the non-profit clinic has provided extractions and dentures for low-income adults since 1989. More than 20 volunteer dentists from the area rotate in throughout the year, keeping the clinic open 35-40 hours a week. 

A community grant from the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation is providing funds for dentures to more than 50 Arkansans at the clinic, improving their smiles and overall health. 

Some of the patients show dental decay due to years of drinking unfluoridated well water or lacking access to proper dental hygiene and care as a child. Others are elderly on a fixed income with no dental insurance. Some are homeless. Some are recovering methamphetamine addicts.
 
“We provide dentures to low-income individuals who have gone for years with decay or missing or broken teeth,” says Clinic Director Lisa Woodard. “We help them smile again, regain the ability to eat wholesome, nutritious food and feel confident about their future. There is no greater feeling than that.”

Do you run a volunteer dental clinic? We can help. Check out our funding opportunities on our website at here or contact us via email or phone to learn more.

 

This story was first published on our Facebook and Instagram pages.