Clinic With a Heart opens School to community by Christy K. Robinson   Registration was set up outside for Clinic With a Heart on February 21.   The earliest arrival walked past the Good Samaritan sculptures in the chilly darkness at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21, and took the first chair under the canvas pavilion. A few hours later, he had been screened and diagnosed, received treatment, and was on his way home. He was there, along with more than 300 other patients and their families, for the eighth annual Clinic With a Heart (CWAH), a free clinic organized by the Dental Student Association of Loma Linda University School of Dentistry. School of Dentistry students and staff performed $24,141 worth of clinic services, provided free to patients. Some of the treatments included 264 radiographs, 125 fillings, 111 extractions, and 159 dental hygiene root planings or prophylaxes. In addition, patients received goodie bags of toothpaste, tooth brush, and floss provided by Procter & Gamble, makers of Crest toothpaste and sponsors of the "cool" CWAH tee shirts worn by volunteer workers. This year, CWAH had the highest turnout of volunteers in Clinic With a Heart history. There were: 33 faculty, 8 postgraduate students, 16 IDP student dentists, 6 visiting dentists and/or alumni, 73 employees/staff, 23 senior hygiene, 14 junior hygiene, 30 freshman dental, 46 sophomore dental, 23 junior dental, 28 senior dental, 22 Baldy View assistants, and 22 Chaffey College assistants. Total volunteers: 344.   Garth Brown, DDS, assistant professor of oral diagnosis, radiology and pathology, and Kurt Lindemann, SD'99, screen one of the first patients of the day.   By 11:15, nearly all of the 304 screened patients had been treated. "We could have taken 200 more patients!" exclaimed Anahid Benzatyan, senior accountant in the patient business office, who assigned patients to students who were best qualified or needed experience in certain procedures. Rolf Wuerch, SD'99, president of the Dental Student Association, agreed. He credited the advance work on the CWAH, plus the well-oiled registration and screening process, for the speed with which patients were treated. Gina Downs, DH'99, was the consummate saleswoman, persuading dental students to do dental hygiene procedures with the suggestion that a certain patient might be a candidate for mock boards! She even told students whose instruments were all in sterilization, to borrow instruments from other students, so as to finish the waiting patients quickly. Some patients said that CWAH was the only dental care they received all year, and were grateful for the treatment. Here's what some of them had to say about Clinic With a Heart:   Veronica Nieto, DH'99, and Antoinette Trujeque, DH'99, perform prophylaxis on patients.   * "I called the dental clinic about having two teeth pulled, and they told me about Clinic With a Heart," says Sue Elkins, a realtor from Palm Desert, 80 miles away. She spoke slowly and carefully, because of the gauze rolls in her mouth. "I couldn't get an appointment with a dentist as quick as I could get to Clinic With a Heart. They gave excellent care. I'm a diabetic, and they made sure I was stable. They walked me out because I was a little woozy. I couldn't ask for better care." Ms. Elkins was grateful for the free care because she supports two adult daughters and a grandchild in her home, and money is tight. * Shannon, a six year-old junior first-grader with all her baby teeth, had her teeth cleaned and was a good patient, her dental hygienist said. "But they put yucky stuff in my mouth," Shannon complained. She smiled, though, at the plastic toy she received in her goodie bag. * Richard Smith of Riverside arrived at 4:30 a.m. "I got here real early, and there were already people here waiting." His student dentist filled two teeth, and gave what he termed "excellent care -- real good!" * Betty Williams of Riverside brought three of her five children, aged 8, 6, and 4. She and the kids had their teeth cleaned. "We got here at 7:05 this morning, and they started on us at about 10:45," she said. "It's worth the wait. The care is great. They offer real good service here." Ms. Williams was happy to learn about the sliding-fee dental clinic at SAC-Norton, because she works for a day care center for underprivileged children, many of whose families could obtain affordable dental care. * Richard Brower of San Bernardino learned of the Clinic With a Heart from a flier at his church, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship. His student dentists extracted two teeth, he said, and "they did a good job."   Wayne Tanaka, DDS, chair of the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, consults with Charles Calder, SD'99 (far right), as Jacy Nelson, SD'02 (center), observes.   University | Medical_Center | LLU&MC_home | Search | Employment | News_&_events | Academics | Our_mission | Admissions | Registration | Research | Alumni | Student_resources All contents copyright © 2001 Loma Linda University. All rights reserved. Revised February 28, 2001 Send comments and questions to webmaster@univ.llu.edu  URL: http://www.llu.edu