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Professional Courtesy Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine

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Make a Permanent Impression on Someone
– by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine

This month we have dedicated a significant portion of our magazine to charitable pursuits within our profession. We hope you find the stories inspirational, as it is our goal to encourage more professionals to get involved in these noble pursuits. Charitable dentistry can take many forms from volunteering in a local free clinic, making a financial contribution to a dental charity or serving on a mission trip to a foreign land. I would like you to consider another option – "charity begins at home."

This oft repeated motto reminds us that we can be charitable right from the comfort of our own home, or in this case, dental office. Each year, many dental offices select a patient from their own population and complete the case at no charge. Many times we have specific criteria for selecting these cases: perhaps the patient is going through a rough time in his or her life and needs to get out of pain, other cases might be someone who has recently lost a loved one and must find a job outside the home or a young child with extensive decay who cannot concentrate in school due to the constant pain.

Whatever the reason, the goal is the same – make someone's life better. In the process, you will be surprised at how much a case like this will tug at the heartstrings of your team, and in many cases, they might agree to work for free as their contribution to this charitable act. There are practical considerations for charitable cases that should not be forgotten. In spite of the fact that the treatment is free, the patient should sign all necessary consent forms for treatment. Additionally, you might want the patient to sign a confidentiality agreement so they do not share your arrangement with friends and family, in order to avoid others requesting free treatment. If you choose your case carefully, this will not be a problem.

Another example of charitable dentistry at home is the offer of free dentistry for a day. There are a number of offices that will open their doors on an off day to provide dental services on a first-come, first-served basis. Most often, this is a Saturday and the staff and doctors volunteer their time for the day. The event can be promoted in local papers or on the radio – most of these outlets will promote charity events at little or no cost. [Editor's Note: See page 103 for information about hosting a free dental day.]

Prior to the event you should prepare the necessary paperwork for patients to complete so you are in compliance with all state and local laws. Consent forms are still necessary and it will be necessary to determine the limits for treatment in advance. As an example: you should allow patients to select one of the following: cleaning, filling or extraction. As a single-day event, your goal should be to help as many people as possible in the limited time. You might elect to repeat this event more than once a year based on the needs of your community. Alternatively, you might refer the patients to a local clinic for follow-up care if such a facility exists in your community.

Do you have an idea for volunteer dentistry in your office? Did you recently complete an event? Log on to Dentaltown.com and join the discussions on these topics. Comments and questions can be delivered via e-mail: tom@dentaltown.com.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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