Rotary Dental Clinic Begins, Serves Low-Income Children

by millsvirtualmarketingsolutions 03/13/2024

By Wilmington Rotary Club

Photo caption: Dr. Gabe Rich examining a patient on Feb. 17.

Twenty-five children from low-income families got dental exams, cleanings and treatments Feb.
17 at the first of four free clinics sponsored by Wilmington Rotary Club. The club donated
money for supplies and the services of five volunteers, including two retired dentists.
Dr. Gabe Rich and Dr. H. Coleman Burgess III, with help from a hygienist, three dental
assistants, and other volunteers, saw 25 patients, most of them pupils at Mary C. Williams
Elementary School. The Saturday morning session took place at the St. Mary Health Center on
Ann Street, a ministry of St. Mary Catholic Church.
The patients received exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, and X-rays and dental sealants as
needed. Any dental disease, such as cavities, was documented and the children’s families given
referrals for follow-up treatment. All were also given a take-home dental care kit.
The Rotary Club’s role, in addition to supplying volunteers, both professional and lay, was to
pay for the necessary supplies. The budget for this project is $3,000, which should allow seeing
as many as 120 patients.
Additional screening clinics were held on Feb. 24, March 9, and will be held on March 16.
School nurses and social workers at Mary C. Williams Elementary, Sunset Park Elementary, and
Williston Middle Schools are referring children for screening. Those schools were selected
because they serve large numbers of low-income children. “For most of these kids,” Dr. Burgess
said, “it is their first professional dental care visit and many have significant dental disease.”
This is the second year the Rotary Club has offered the free dental clinic. “This project is
completely scalable depending upon the funds,” Burgess explained. “We can do more with
additional funds for supplies. The volunteers want to make this happen.”
Money for the Wilmington Rotary Club’s projects, including this one, comes largely from its
annual fund-raiser, the Leaders in Service awards. Sponsorships are being solicited for the third
annual Leaders in Service awards banquet, scheduled for May 1.
For details about Leaders in Service, see www.LeadersinService.org
For more information about Wilmington Rotary Club, see www.WilmingtonRotaryClub.org