Virginia, and Washington, DC area underprivileged, who can’t afford dental care, can sign – up for free preventative and emergency treatments during Dental Helping Hands Day on Nov. 13.
The event will be held at the DentCare Now office at 9547-A Fairfax Blvd., Fairfax, VA. Patients can reserve a spot for Dental Helping Hands Day at the office’s website says dentist Dr. Rasheeda Johnson.
Johnson started the non-profit organization in 2017 with fellow Howard University dental graduates Dr. Patrick Christopher and Dr. Patrice Smith and attorneys Shannon Edwards and Sean P. Young.
Its mission is to support under-served communities by providing free dental services and preventative education. The organization does this by creating one-day mobile community events around the world in partnership with local dentists.
They’ve already done events in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. The Nov. 13 event is the organization’s first U.S. event.
Since starting Dental Helping Hands, they’ve provided much-needed dental and surgical services to thousands of underserved children and adults all over the world. For some children, it was also their first experience with a dentist and provided hope that one day they could become anything they wanted to be.
Dental treatments range from emergency care, cleanings, extractions to life-changing cleft and craniofacial surgeries.
“We’ve been given this amazing gift for helping people and we just want to give back to people in the community, who cannot afford proper dental care,” said Johnson who is a Dental Helping Hands board member and DentCare Now dentist. “These people need our help now.”
They may require urgent treatment or try to mask dental pain with medication because dentistry can be expensive. People in the U.S. that Dental Helping Hands could help are typically the unemployed who have lost jobs due to the pandemic, homeless, veterans, children and adults with special needs, prisoners, and the elderly.
“We’ve created this non-profit organization Dental Helping Hands, that’s run entirely by volunteers so we can provide dental services free of charge to these people. Dentists can volunteer their time and office space, and anyone can volunteer their time to create fundraising events,” said Johnson.
Volunteer dental clinics operate with minimal administrative costs and volunteers pay their way and donate their time. Dental supplies and monetary donations are also urgently needed. All donations are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible.
After the Nov. 13, events will be scheduled throughout the U.S. every few months. The real issue is to find the space, equipment, and patients to work on, which takes planning and fundraising. You can find out about upcoming events by following them on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Johnson will be one of the dentists offering her services free of charge to the underserved community during the Dental Helping Hands Day on Nov. 13 at her dental office at DentCare Now.
DentCare Now is an urgent dental care facility started in 2019, which is a new concept in the dental space. It’s based upon the same model as urgent medical care, which is less expensive than going to the emergency room at the hospital for a non-life-threatening incident. For now, they’re in Virginia with plans to expand.
“It was an obvious need that needed to be filled. You can see us immediately if you have a dental emergency, instead of going to an expensive emergency room or can’t make an appointment with your regular dentist,” said Johnson.
After treatment, you can go back to your regular dentist for follow-up treatments. DentCare Now also offers affordable options and is open on the weekends and late evenings.
“We can also help people, while other dental offices are closed. During the pandemic, we were open to see patients and take them out of pain, while some other dental facilities were closed. It would be really bad to be locked in your house with a toothache,” said Johnson.
