by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Dental health is dear to the hearts of the volunteer professionals who give of their time to Operation Grace MN, which stopped recently at the St. Cloud-based Salvation Army to give care to clients there badly in need of tooth maintenance and repair.
The Operation Grace MN organization provides free dental care of people who need it throughout Minnesota. It has six dental-care vans, each staffed with up to six dental-care experts including licensed dentists.
The vans go to schools, economically challenged neighborhoods and other places where those in need can get dental care.
The organization is governed by a board of directors whose backgrounds perfectly fit the mission, which is to help people in need get dental help. The organization’s vision is strongly inspired by Christian principles.
Volunteers are always welcome at Operation Grace MN. Positions are open for licensed dental professionals, for people familiar with dental-instrument sterilization, data entry, set-up and take-down of the van “clinics,” equipment repair and van drivers.
For more information or to donate, go to the following website: www.operationgracemn.org.
Operation Grace MN volunteers Melissa Turner, a dental hygienist, and Dr. Len Carlson, both of St. Cloud, work to fill a cavity for a patient following an exam inside the mobile dental clinic July 21 at the St. Cloud Salvation Army.
Free mobile dental care was available July 21 and 22 at the Salvation Army shelter in St. Cloud via Operation Grace MN. Volunteer dentists and hygienists worked inside the renovated motor-home dubbed “Lil’ Flossie,” to clean teeth, fill cavities and tend to a variety of other dental needs.
Bob Petrich of Woodbury, clinic operations manager for Operation Grace MN, uses the sterilizing machine inside the mobile dental clinic July 21 at the Salvation Army.
