TULSA, Okla. — On Friday, after five years of planning, the Smiles of Faith program unveiled a new mobile dental clinic in north Tulsa.
The repurposed RV is a collaboration between five area churches to help fill the gap in dental needs for our area.
Not only will this be for prevention and basic dental needs, but it is also free to the patient. That means there will be no need to prove income to be eligible for treatment.
"By doing that mobile model, we can bring the care directly to the patients," Dr. Nicole Nellis, president of the Smiles of Faith board, said. "We realized that transportation was going to be one of the biggest barriers we were facing to bring the care to the patients."
Ray Owens is a board member, as well. Owens said the mobile clinic has been in the works for a long time, and the mobile aspect was the right way to go about it.
"What I love about it is that we are able to meet people where they are," Owens said. "The mobile aspect allows us to go into the neighborhoods where people don't have access to dental services and have those needs met. That's very exciting. It allows us to live out our faith."
The mobile clinic will start seeing patients in September and travel around for a day at each location.
Smiles of Faith has hired a dentist, dental assistant, and director of operations for the clinic.
The collaboration is between Vernon Chapel African Methodist Episcopal, Morning Star Baptist, Centenary United Methodist, Metropolitan Baptist, and Boston Avenue United Methodist Church.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- SUBSCRIBE on YouTube
