On April 26 & 27, Dental Access Days staged its 11th clinic. The location was the Willye B White Park Center, a Chicago Park District facility at 1610 Howard St.
Manager Irma Rizzo and her terrific staff went above and beyond to help us bring this helath benefit to their Rogers Park community.
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The center is just a few blocks from the kitchen and offices of A Just
Harvest. We partnered with AJH to help us reach the people of most need in the Roge
rs Park area. Other agencies that helped us reach out to patients included Sarah's
C
ircle, Goldie's Place, Trilogy, and Thresholds.
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Special Thanks
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At full capacity it takes a little over 60 volunteers to make a clinic happen. 25 professionals per day and 14 non professional supporters/coordinators. All deserve credit for investing their time to make this valuable service possible. But for this clinic we got some exceptional help from a few of our Pros that we need to call attention to:
Dr Grant Sims spent a number of weekends at our storage facility in Elk Grove working through our supply inventory. He helped us integrate the donated supplies we acquired at the MidWinter Meeting trade show, evaluated inventory material's expirations, and generally enhanced our preparedness for the Willye clinic. He also loaned us a large Ultra Sound Cleaner and secured donations from a few of his regular suppliers. Grant's practice, Sim's Dentistry, is at 5503 N Clarke St. Chicago.
 Dr Spencer Bloom and his wife, practice manager, and assistant,
Kimbra Bloom, supported us by
working with Henry Shien for a loan of their Statim 2000 sterilizer. They also donated Lidocain, the anesthetic most frequently used by our dentists, and donated a stack of 100 disposable, biodegradable, sterile trays equipped with a disposable probe and dental mirror so our professionals could "grab and go" when they changed patients. More, Kimbra continued her helpful training and instruction of our sterilizing crew. Both helped by recruiting colleagues.
The Bloom's Chicago practice is at 5530 W Monroe. They  have a new office in Northfield at 330 Frontage Road.
We consistently receive support from
Mike Nolan, Chad Freund, Kelly Bahmandeji , Brad Weiss, Lisa Schmidt, and
April Lehman. This clinic was no exception. Mike, Chad, and Kelly work together at Nolan Freund Dental Partners at 3633 W Lake Ave in Glenview. Lisa is a former Hygienist with Nolan Freund, just became past President of the American Dental Hygienist Association, and is currently a rep for Water Pic. April is
a sales rep for Ivoclar.
Here's an interesting note about Brad Weiss. In February Brad and his 12 year old son Braden teamed up with a medical outreach group at RUSH Medical and went to Haiti to deliver care. Dental Access Days provided him with 2 of our portable delivery units and some basic supplies. To find out more, here's a
link to an article about his trip. Brad practices in Evanston @ 636 Church St.
We appreciate all of our sponsors help. Heraeus Kulzer and their product manager Aundrea Hoffman deserve a special mention. Each clinic they help us by making sure we have the composites and other filling materials need
ed for restorations. They have been doing so for years. Their support helps us lower costs and
keep
our focus on providing care. Thanks Aundrea. W
e are very fortunate to have you and your Kulzer support us.
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Farewell Scotty - Hello Mike
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 Our Equipment Guy and good friend Scott Decker announced his decision to pack-up his tool belt and move on. He and his wife Leslie have decided to relocate to the Boston area to be closer to family. We wish both safe travels and good landings.
Dave Aki, a volunteer from Glenview Community Church, and someone who has been really helpful in coordinating our volunteers for support services, introduced us to Mike Lynch, a retired EMT for the Glenview Fire Department and member of GCC. Mike agreed to take Scott's place and worked closely with him through the clinic to learn the ropes. We couldn't have asked for a better fit or smoother transition the two of them put together. Currently Mike is the owner/operator of an auto repair shop, Mike's Garage at 1902 Willow Rd, Northbrook. Thanks Dave and welcome aboard Mike!
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No-Shows : Something we hope to improve on
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Other bad news this clinic was the number of no shows for the pro roster. We usually have a last minute dropout and scramble for a replacement. But this clinic we had 8, some with notice, most without. We had plenty of volunteers register to fill the positions but had turned down quite a few once the roster was full. We tried contacting most of them to fill the voids but of course had little success the day of clinic. The vacancies caused a drop in both services rendered and efficiency for those that did show. We certainly can't overbook and have people show up only to be told they aren't needed. But we can't have this needed resource
squandered when there are people who want to work with us. The plan at present is to be more deliberate asking each volunteer for confirmation of their commitments 2 weeks prior to clinic and hope for the best.
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New Treatment Option - Silver Diamine Fluoride
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We offered a new treatment at this clinic : Silver Diamine Fluoirde (SDF). We found out about it at the Midwinter Show through Lisa Schmidt. It is a compound handled like a Fluoride varnish but provides two important additional benefits - it actually kills the bacteria that cause tooth decay and re-mineralizes (meaning hardens) the remaining tooth surface weakened by the decay.
SDF was approved by the FDA in 2014 for desensitization and received "Breakthrough Therapy Designation" (fast tracking) in October 2016 for treatment of dental caries (cavities). A single US company, Elevate Oral Care, brought it to market as Advantage Arrest in 2015. It was written up and recommended by the Illinois Department of Public Health in September of 2017.
 When we got in touch with Elevate they pointed out that the population we're serving was a particularly appropriate fit for the treatment. They provided lots of reference material on theirs and other's research as well as practical guides for application to help get our dentists up to speed. We distributed the materials prior to the clinic. A number were already aware of it and had used it. Like any new medical treatment the prudent approach is to proceed slowly and experiment as little as possible. We bought the material and simple supplies that facilitate its use. We identified those dentists with prior experience for that days staff to consult with and had our triage dentists assist in recommending its use.
We also created a special record system to track who received it. That will allow us to follow up with patients prior to our next clinic. We plan to offer them seating priority as an incentive to come back so our dentists can see how the teeth have fared since the application. 12 patients received 22 applications of Silver Diamine Fluoride.
 I bought Heather and I Dr. Black t-shirts made by Elevate Oral. We wore them at the clinic. Dr. Black, an Illinoisan born in 1836, is considered the father of dental surgery. He created the categories of types of dental carries still used today, invented the dentist drill, invented and perfected the formula for dental amalgams, and was the 2nd Dean of the school of dentistry at Northwestern University. There's a big statue of him in Chicago's Lincoln Park commemorating the contribution he made to oral health worldwide. Ok, why the t-shirt? Because the anti-microbial efficacy of ionic silver is not new. Black experimented with it in the form of silver nitrate in the 1800s. He "discovered" it arrested tooth decay. But his research went in a different direction and the finding was never followed up on here in the U.S. Amalgams use silver, but the form it is in doesn't create the bacteria killing effect. The finding was "re-discovered" by a group at University of California San Francisco, commercialized by Elevate, and may have a big impact on how dental decay is treated.
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Next Clinic - October 26th & 27th 2018
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 We willl be back at the Levy Sr Center, 300 Dodge Ave, Evanston.
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Helping one person may not change the world,
but it may change the world for one person.
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What performance statistics don't show is the improvement in spiritual health everyone participating experienced. For a couple of days we all got a glimpse of a world where we are all important and able to share without regret.
Everyone receives a gift.
If you ask yourself why our society doesn't work like this all the time, a flood of answers will quickly occur to you. You wind up realizing it would take a miracle. But stay with that thought a while longer. How many miracles surround our daily lives that not too long ago were impossible, just wishful thinking, and then somehow
happened ?
 Let's close with a confession. The clinic was packed up and in the back of our rented truck Saturday evening. We were all exhausted and looking forward to completing the day's work. The only thing left was for a few of us to drive back to Elk Grove Village, unload, and return the truck. Heather and I got in the truck and started off. About 10 minutes later my adrenal gland squeezed and I blurted out "OH ****, that bridge back there was 11' 9" - I just drove our 12 ft truck under it!!! Heather's eyes went wide. She pulled out her phone and took a commemorative photo.
Impossible. Then it happened.
All the best to all of you.
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