WELDON—Cassie Minor was impressed with the facilities at The Centre at Halifax Community College Thursday afternoon as volunteers set up for the North Carolina Missions of Mercy (NC MOM) dental clinic.

(Use arrows above to view more photos) Advertisement

“This is as good as it gets,” said Minor, a dental hygienist with NC MOM.

Volunteers worked for about six hours helping to set up the equipment. There is enough for a 45-chair full dental clinic including x-ray, sterilization and all instrumentation and supplies.

“We have been called a MASH unit,” she said pointing to a large area in The Centre. “This will be turned into a huge dental office.”

Minor said persons coming for services should expect lengthy lines. “Ideally, you should bring something to eat and to sit on,” she said. “It’s a long wait but the financial benefits for the cost of the dentistry make it worth it.”

She has been with NC MOM since it begun in 2005 and does about 12-13 clinics per year around the state.

The clinic, sponsored by the North Carolina Dental Society, started providing treatment this morning at 7:30 until 5 p.m. Hours for Saturday will be from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Patients are seen on a first come, first-serve basis so there are no appointments.

“We usually have more people come to the clinic that we are able to serve,” Minor said.

Dental cleanings, fillings and extractions will be done along with partial and denture repairs.

The goal of NC MOM is to provide free dental care to as many needy persons within the state as possible.

HCC President Dr. Ervin Griffin Sr. was one of the volunteers helping to set up.

“We’re excited about it. We hope it helps many people in Halifax County and the surrounding areas,” he said. “If it is successful, this is something we hope to do each year.”

He added there were several volunteers from the PReparing men for Intellectual, acaDemic, and Educational success (P.R.I.D.E.) program helping to set up.

Marcus Lewis, learning coach with the P.R.I.D.E. program, said the members would be not only setting up, but also helping to break down on Saturday afternoon.

He felt if the students were there volunteering, he and others with the program should be there as well.

“This is great. My program is a male mentoring program,” Lewis said. “They and myself included don’t visit the dentist like we should. I think it’s good to have a free clinic for adults. And a great way for the college to give back to the community.”