I graduated from Northwestern University Dental School in 1976.  When my daughters were younger, I volunteered in their classroom for a couple of hours on a near-weekly basis, and I was a volunteer soccer coach for 12 years.  Yet, it wasn’t until 1999 that I did my first volunteer dental work.  Up to that point in time, I wanted to be away from dentistry on my day off during the week.

I met Georgene Burnett of Northwest Medical Teams (now Medical Teams International) at the Oregon Dental Conference.   She was the volunteer coordinator, and I liked her.  She made it very safe in that she asked me, “How many days a year do you want to volunteer?”  I believe I told her that day, “Two”.  With a smile on her face, she replied, “Great”. 

My first day was in the summer, and Georgene asked me if I would drive to Newberg?  There was a summer school for low-income children, and they wanted to schedule a clinic.  What I remember most from that first day was I met a nine-year- old boy with an abscessed first permanent molar.  I asked him how long it had been hurting, and he told me he couldn’t remember.  With no provisions for endodontic follow up care, I had to extract this tooth.

What struck me at the time was: 1) this wasn’t the typical patient that I saw in my practice; and 2) if I or someone could have seen him a couple of years earlier, a dental sealant would have protected this tooth for almost no expense.  This young boy didn’t choose what socioeconomic class he was born into.   Essentially, he is a victim of his circumstances, something my two daughters will never, ever have to deal with.

This hit me between the eyes like a figurative brick.  One of my volunteer dentist heroes, Dale Canfield (who has lead 7 MTI missions to Cambodia) had a similar experience.  He started volunteering for NW Medical Teams about a year before me.  Both of us told ourselves, we can and must keep doing this.  I asked myself, “Why did I wait so long to give back my dental skills to less fortunate members of our society?   Was I not ready to volunteer earlier in my career, or did I just not ever have someone ask me to try it?  I called Georgene after my first day and said that I wanted to increase my MTI volunteer work from 2 to 4 days a year.

I also found out that although I am not a pediatric dentist, I prefer to see children in my volunteer work.  I’m a sucker for these children: their innocence, their ability to smile during situations that you and I would term, “deplorable”, and their courage in my dental chair.  Working with the school nurses and teachers, I can actually see progress with my young patient’s oral health when we implement preventative measures at their schools: fluoride supplements, OHI, and fluoride varnish treatments.  There is hope.

One of my goals was to retire relatively young and to do dentistry as a hobby.   I can now volunteer on a weekly basis, but I tell you that I wouldn’t do it unless it was fun.  I am “way over” any positive strokes that I get from my peers for doing this work, meaning that I don’t do it to please others or suggest what a wonderful person I am.  My greatest positive stroke is the feedback that I get back from the children. 

Two years ago, the Multnomah Education Service District presented Dr. John Kilian and me a certificate for our volunteer services at a MESD board of directors meeting. 
About a month before this meeting, I had visited Rigler Elementary School in NE Portland, where 11of the 12 children I had treated cried when I had administered local anesthetic to them.  I was sure that I had created more than a few, future dental phobic patients.  However, one of the teachers at the school had asked these young patients write thank you cards to me, and these cards were presented to me at this meeting. 

So, here I am standing in front of the MESD board of directors.  The first card that I opened read as follows, “Dear Dr. Ferré, Thank you for helping my teeth feel better, and I am not scary now.  Your friend, Maria”.  There were two hearts drawn next to her name.  Well, I may have made 11 children cry that morning when I visited Rigler School, but a little girl got me back.  My eyes watered up, and I had to just stand there for 30 seconds to compose myself before I could say a few words to the board of directors.

While I practiced with Permanente Dental Associates, I coordinated the Give Kids A Smile Day at our Kaiser North Interstate Clinic.  One of our pediatric dentists, Greg Stafford, and I were walking out of our clinic one evening just before our GKAS Day event, and we were discussing the upcoming day.  Greg is originally from Danville, Virginia, and he had participated in the 6 previous GKAS Day events that Kaiser has sponsored.  I asked Greg, “Why do you think we volunteer every year for this event?”  Greg turned to me, and sliding back into his southern Virginia accent, responded, “It’s good for the soul!”

Soul food, my friends…..

Editor's Note- Kurt Ferre' us President of Multnomah Dental Society

Reprinted here with permission