Tyler

By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer

James Nelson wants to smile with confidence. He wants to smile back at Sunday school children in Kilgore Eastview Church of God, but doesn't feel comfortable with his broken smile. He has struggled for two years knowing he couldn't afford the procedure that would improve both his smile and his self-confidence. He was told it would cost $8,000 to fix his teeth, a price the retired welder - with no insurance and living on a fixed income - could not pay.

"It's hard to worry about your appearance when you talk to people," he said. "It has a lot to do with how you are accepted."

Saturday morning, Nelson and his wife, Darlene, traveled from their home in Liberty City to take part in the Texas Dental Association Smiles Foundation's dental program for people with dental problems and no place to go. More than 900 letters were received by Texas Mission of Mercy, sent from East Texans looking for medical care, mammograms and eye and dental care, said East Texas' TMOM chair Dr. David Nichols. Next Saturday, Nelson and 627 fellow patients will visit the local dentist office assigned to them and receive the care they need for free.

"For many people in East Texas this is the only place to go for this type of care," Nichols said. "They just don't have the option except for an event like this."

The Nelsons will visit the office of Dr. Chip Swinney, a veteran of TDA's program. He has assisted the program in and outside of Tyler four times and said the opportunity to volunteer to those in desperate need of care is a good experience for dentists. He said that during next Saturday's appointments he and four other dentists will care for about 50 patients with varying dental problems. The patient load is about four to five times the number of regular daily visits.

Nichols said most of the work done will be restorations, restructuring front teeth, tooth removal and root canals. He said there are 10,000 people in Tyler alone with dental problems like those who will be treated next Saturday. He said the majority of those screened are very pleased but that one patient out of a hundred is not eligible for the program's help. He said organizing the program is a major undertaking but well worth the effort.

The ability to serve more than 800 patients in a little more than six hours required around 400 volunteers including, 60 area dentists, 15 physicians and dozens of nurses, dental hygienists and members of The Salvation Army and local churches. The program ran smoothly this year, Swinney said. He said the screening process has made the event much easier and less chaotic than in the past and that most everyone gets what he or she needs from the day.

Jayson Terres, a local oral surgeon, said ideally the patient's chief complaint will be served by the dental practitioners. He said those who suffer pain or possibility of infection will be given good care. He said there is just not enough time to offer solutions to complex situations but the care provided will ensure the onset of major health risks can be avoided.

"Hopefully we can minimize that (major health risks), give people some good smiles and help them out," he said.

For the Nelsons, the program is a Godsend. Mrs. Nelson said she and her husband had exhausted all available options before she heard about the event. She was able to get regular women's health check-ups as well as an appointment with Swinney during her visit. The Nelsons' said the volunteers could not have been more helpful or kind and that they could not thank them enough. On Saturday Nelson will walk out of the dentist's office with a brand new smile and renewed confidence.

People in need of medical and dental care form lines at the Mission of Mercy at the Bethesda Clinic in Tyler on Saturday morning. Officials estimate between 800 and 900 people will visit the clinic Saturday.
(— Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.)