ATSU-ASDOH hosts second-annual Day for Special Smiles
Posted: December 3, 2012
A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) hosted the second-annual Day for Special Smiles on Nov. 29, 2012, providing free dental care to 45 people with developmental disabilities, including 30 athletes from the Arizona Special Olympics.
Organizations and donors who helped make the Day for Special Smiles possible include Arizona Dental Foundation, Arizona Department of Economic Security Division of Developmental Disabilities, Arizona Department of Health Services—Office of Oral Health, Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, Delta Dental of Arizona and ValleyLife.
Among those on hand for the Day for Special Smiles included Jack Dillenberg, DDS, MPH, ATSU-ASDOH Dean, Maureen Romer, DDS, MPA, director of Special Care Dentistry at ATSU-ASDOH, Denise Frances, DMD, associate director of Special Care Dentistry, ATSU-ASDOH and faculty adviser for the Day for Special Smiles, and ATSU-ASDOH student coordinators Abrahim Caroci and Sarah Usher along with ATSU-ASDOH student assistants Nadia Fazel, Angela Lee and Monica Louie and 30 ATSU-ASDOH student volunteers.
“This was a rewarding day for the faculty as well as the students involved,” said Dr. Frances. “It’s wonderful to be able to offer dental care to this vulnerable population. Not only would the majority of the Day for Special Smiles patients have difficulty affording the dental care they received today, many would be unable to find providers skilled to treat them.”
Special guests included Cindy McCain, Chair of Hensley & Co. and an ambassador to the 2013 Special Olympics World Games in Pyeongchang, Korea, Steven P. Perlman, DDS, MScD, DHL (hon.), founder of Special Olympics Special Smiles, an Oral Health Initiative for the athletes of Special Olympics International, Tim Martin, President and CEO, Special Olympics of Arizona, and Larry Clausen, Executive Director of the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.
A photo gallery from the Day for Special Smiles 2012 is available at the official ATSU Facebook page.
