![\"Students](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2020\/03\/malta_main.jpg?resize=1024%2C444&ssl=1\")
Students from University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s School of Dentistry will be serving even more members of the community free of charge thanks to a grant from the American Dental Association Foundation\u2019s E. \u201cBud\u201d Tarrson Dental School Student Community Leadership Award.<\/p>\n
The $11,417.83 grant is to support the work of the Detroit Mercy Outreach and Community Service (DOCS)\/Malta Free Dental Clinic.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth the entire DOCS organization and I are honored to have won this grant,\u201d said Detroit Mercy Dental student Matthew Stratton, the Primary Student Volunteer on the grant. \u201cWe encounter patients at the Malta Clinic who are very poor and in dire need of dental care. This grant money will go a long way toward improving the experience for these patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
DOCS is a student-run organization which provides dental care to underprivileged members of the Detroit community.<\/p>\n
DOCS works at The Malta Clinic, which is a medical and dental clinic serving those in the Detroit area who do not have proper access to healthcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Malta Clinic is held in a basement of a St. Leo\u2019s Catholic Church where a soup kitchen is run Tuesday through Saturday,\u201d Stratton said. \u201cThe people of the community are able to enjoy meals, while also learning the importance of oral health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since DOCS is made of volunteers from Detroit Mercy Dental, the student-run clinic is able to provide dental care at no cost to patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients are always thankful for our services,\u201d Stratton said. \u201cThe students are ecstatic to be providing dental care this early in their careers and thus give patients their undivided attention. The complete attention of a healthcare provider is seldom seen in our community and is why our patients are thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DOCS provided free care to 100 patients over 12 months. They hope to serve at least 200 patients this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grant is going to help this project through purchasing much-needed, high-speed drills and dental materials,\u201d Stratton said. \u201cOften the simplest materials are forgotten; so the grant will also be used to purchase gloves, masks and sterilization bags. The DOCS students are also always eager to become more involved during the week and so we also hope to be involved Monday through Friday as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps them have more clinic days, serve more patients,\u201d DOCS Faculty Advisor and Detroit Mercy Dental\u2019s Director of Dental Public Health and Outreach Divesh Byrappagari said. \u201cOne of the things they are going to do this year through this project is provide free dentures to some of those uninsured patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
Byrappagari believes clinics like this one are positive for both the community and the students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps students recognize the needs of the underserved population here in the City of Detroit,\u201d said Byrappagari, who is also an associate professor. \u201cIt provides an opportunity for the students to understand the social determinants of health and how it impacts the delivery and utilization of dental care in underserved populations. It also helps them to think about solutions to address these issues in their own communities. I think it\u2019s a win-win, both for the community as well as the students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fourth-year dental students primarily complete the treatments, while first-, second- and third-year students assist and observe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s vital for dental students to be involved in philanthropic work at some point in their career,\u201d Stratton said. \u201cGetting students involved at this stage encourages them to find something where they can give back later after graduation. The experiences at DOCS provide students a nurturing environment where they learn proficient techniques, while having the patients\u2019 best interest in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big part of the University\u2019s mission is service and social justice, these clinics fit perfectly into that,\u201d Byrappagari said. \u201cEven though this isn\u2019t mandatory or part of the Dental School\u2019s curriculum, these outreach activities help add a service-learning component, which is a key piece of the core curriculum of the University.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information on DOCS, email\u00a0dentaloutreach@udmercy.edu<\/a>. For more information on the Malta Clinic visit\u00a0maltaclinic.org<\/a>\u00a0or call 313-894-2240.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Students from University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s School of Dentistry will be serving even more members of the community free of charge thanks to a grant from the American Dental Association Foundation\u2019s E. \u201cBud\u201d Tarrson Dental School Student Community Leadership Award. The $11,417.83 grant is to support the work of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":3038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2020\/03\/malta_second.jpg?fit=550%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Kcng-MY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3039,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036\/revisions\/3039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}