Smiles helping smiles: Eastern Shore Mission of Mercy returns for free dental clinic

SALISBURY, Md. – Saturday was the second day of Eastern Shore Mission of Mercy’s free two-day dental clinic at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center.

“Today I am so excited because we’ve had an exuberant number of doctors and hygienists and community people come in and show up to help treat the patients that are here,” said Dr. Patricia Higgins, one of the many medical professionals who decided to volunteer their time and services.

She said many people don’t have access to proper dental care, and the problem can be worse in rural areas like the eastern shore: “This is an area of great need…a lot of families are coming from non fluoridated water, which means a higher cavity rate.”

That need was evident to volunteer Rebecca Dunn, who watched people start lining up while it was still dark out. “It’s really busy. You don’t get any breaks because there are a lot of people in need. I got here at 6:00 this morning. They opened the doors at 6:45. The parking lot was already filled at that time,” Dunn said.

According to Dunn, patients came from across the Eastern Shore–and well beyond: “There were people from Georgetown, Delaware, Laurel, Seaford, Annapolis. One person had somebody from Texas.”

The all-volunteer force of hundreds met needs like cleanings, fillings, extraction, and more.

“It always warms my heart to see the enthusiasm of the community, the dentists, the hygienists, the assistants to reach out and help people,” Dr. Higgins said.

Dunn and Dr. Higgins both felt like it was a special environment.

“People said to us, ‘It was so nice to be smiled at by so many people today.’ That was really rewarding,” Dunn said.

Across their 3 prior events (2013, 2015, and 2019), Eastern Shore Mission of Mercy says they provided over $3 million in dental services, with 4,300 volunteers giving 36,000 hours of their time.