Ten years ago, Vincent Monticciolo, DDS, was a local dentist in Michigan who would treat needy local families the day after Thanksgiving as a way to give back to the community. That simple concept has evolved into Dentistry From the Heart, a charity that helps dentists in 48 states and Canada host free clinics of their own.
Its growth has been staggering: Participation has doubled each year over the past three years, and the organization has helped more than 300 dental practices donate $5.5 million in free dentistry to some 25,000 patients.
In Dr. Monticciolo's view, charity comes naturally to the dental community. "Every friend of mine that's a dentist helps people they know in need," he said in an interview with DrBicuspid.com. "The dental world is very giving."
Dentistry From the Heart's goal is to organize that sentiment. "I get four to five calls and e-mails a day from dentists who want to participate," said Brian Carlsen, director of operations. "But they typically encounter Dr. Monticciolo in seminars since he keeps an active lecture circuit going."
— Brian Carlsen, director of operations, Dentistry From the Heart
After the initial contact, Carlsen asks the dentist to set a date, usually a Friday or Saturday, and lays out a few parameters. If the practice is located near legacy members (longtime participants), he gives a range of dates. Based on the estimated size of the event, he helps determine how many people they can treat performing only fillings, cleanings, and extractions, and assuming 70% are extractions.
"Then I help them network with other interested dentists," Carlsen said. "That's the glory of database management. I can identify all the interested ones, map them out, and send their contact info to a new member, and that creates a pool of dentists who want to learn and observe how this is done so they can take it back to their own practice."
After the date is set, the practice is declared as a member of Dentistry From the Heart's 501(c)(3) charity. "Then they're free to solicit tax-deductible donations and operate as a full-blown charity without the expense of doing that on their own," Carlsen said. "We stress to our members that when you're having an event, reach out to your vendors for supplies and support -- financial or physical."
Community effort
Then it is time to get the word out. "We scream about it on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, if we can get that kind of footage," Carlsen said. "And then we make sure the practice has the means to contact the local media. We pay a significant amount of money to access exclusive lists of the gatekeepers for local news."
Getting other local businesses involved has been a key aspect to the success of Dr. Monticciolo's free treatment days, and Carlsen recommends that others follow suit. "Reach out to the pizza place across the street," he suggested. "Dr. Monticciolo's wife, whose dermatology practice is next door, hosts 'Skin-a-palooza,' where she does free skin cancer screenings."
Dr. Monticciolo also invites the blood mobile every year. "They bring two, actually," he said. "Anybody that donates gets priority in the treatment line, so lots of blood gets donated."
The pharmacy across the street also pitches in. "They give discounted medication for the patients -- free antibiotics and pain pills are $5," Dr. Monticciolo explained. "We just send them across the street after treatment."
His own event is the largest of its kind. "We had 16 dentists in our office last year and over 100 volunteers just to pull off the event. Last year that served about 536 patients," Dr. Monticciolo recalled. "There are always people waiting at the end, and if we still have doctors, we try to treat them. I'm there at 3 or 4 in the morning, but we usually start seeing patients around 7 and we commit to treating at least 500, so we're pumping it out."
According to Carlsen, the scene is busy and festive. "Our long-term members are extraordinary at making everybody feel welcome and comfortable, providing refreshments and porta potties because the lines do get long," he said. "It's just been tremendous."
"It's the hardest day of the year we work, but it's the most gratifying," Dr. Monticciolo concluded.
What goes around comes around
The program's benefits extend beyond satisfying altruistic principles. "One of the unusual side effects of these events is that it grows or stabilizes your practice, either of which is a victory in this economy," Carlsen explained. "Communities don't forget. These people are connected to your existing patients, who become fiercely loyal. And then on top of that, they know two people who know two people ... it's the Kevin Bacon theory of marketing."
Dr. Monticciolo, who estimated that he has spent well over $1 million of his own money as the sole supporter of the program, said it has been an asset to his practice, now one of the largest in Florida. "All of the expenses come out of the doctors' pockets, but you get it back tenfold," he said. "And not only in love from the community, but in your business. It's a true win-win."
The need for the service is self-evident, Dr. Monticciolo added. "With people out of work, dentistry is one of the first things to go," he said. "Folks start lining up a day and a half in advance for treatment."
Many contact their office directly. "Social services has sent my name and number out to virtually every recipient in the country. I get tons of calls and e-mails every day from desperate Americans who can't sleep or eat," Carlsen said. "So I've developed a program here where if I can't get you to a nearby event, and I can do it about 80% of the time, I can get them to some other care with a charitable institution I've networked with."
How it all started
Nine years ago, the tremendous demand for dental services hit Dr. Monticciolo shortly after he married and moved his family and practice from Michigan to Florida. His traditional "Day of Thanks" free treatment session, hosted the day after Thanksgiving, became a travel day.
"So I spoke with the staff about how we could affect the most people, not just a family here or there, but the community," Dr. Monticciolo recalled. "That's when we came up with Dentistry From the Heart -- we'd do it the Friday before Valentine's Day every year."
On his way to the first event in Florida, he was shocked to find that a veritable tent city had formed along the road.
From 2001 to 2005, the program grew to seven host locations as Dr. Monticciolo toured the U.S., speaking at seminars about practice management and sharing his Dentistry from the Heart concept as an addendum. In 2006, it became a public charity.
"We became a not-for-profit so that offices could get donations and supplies in and things like that," Dr. Monticciolo said. "The counterpoint to that is once you're a not-for-profit, after a certain amount of years it can't be self-funded, per IRS guidelines. So we're starting to look for corporate sponsors. And while we've done well, charities tend to suffer during a recession."
Consequently, they aren't spendthrifts. "We run a very bare-bones operation here," Carlsen said. "There's myself and a couple of contracted employees helping me with public relations and that's it. We have extraordinary efficiencies with our software and our approach here."
In 2011, the organization will begin asking for support from their members. In turn, they will provide more goods and services for hosts. "We are evolving into a real national charity, absolutely by accident," Carlsen said.
Their plans for the charity are evolving with it. "I'd like to see how this idea would work with other disciplines," Carlsen said. "Why wouldn't it work with dermatology? We already do that to some extent here, with the doctor's wife's practice. How about chiropractors?"
Dr. Monticciolo has a growing vision as well. "We threw around the idea of taking it to stadiums where we can collaborate with dental societies from the state and bring in 100 or so dentists," Dr. Monticciolo said. Unionized security proved to be prohibitively expensive at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL, he noted; the Sun Dome in Tampa appears more feasible.
The next hurdle is obtaining 50 to 100 dental chairs with suction. "Once we have the resources, we'll buy our own chairs and bring in enough dentists to pull off a weekend at one of these stadiums," Dr. Monticciolo said. "It's kind of my legacy, I guess."
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