Podcast: Dental Lifeline Network's 1st 50 years and what comes next

In the latest episode of the "Dental Assistant Nation" podcast, I interviewed Lynda Ricketson, the president and CEO of the Dental Lifeline Network, to discuss the organization's mission and impact. The Dental Lifeline Network is celebrating its 50th anniversary and has served over 170,000 patients, providing over $550 million worth of donated dental treatment.

They accept patients who are elderly, living with disabilities, medically compromised, or veterans and connect them with volunteer dentists and dental teams who provide comprehensive care. The organization has seen a decrease in volunteers due to retirement and dentists joining dental service organizations (DSOs), but they are building partnerships with DSOs to encourage more dental practices to volunteer.

Dental Lifeline Network makes it easy for dental practices to volunteer by handling the triaging and coordination of appointments. They ask dental practices to take on one or two patients per year. The organization also emphasizes the importance of involving the entire dental team in volunteerism, as it boosts employee morale and helps with talent recruitment and retention.

They have seen a high level of volunteerism and compassion from dentists and dental professionals. The Dental Lifeline Network aims to serve as many patients as possible and measure success by the number of patients served and the value of donated dental treatment.

Learn more about Dental Lifeline Network and its mission.

Podcast takeaways

• The Dental Lifeline Network is celebrating its 50th anniversary and has served over 170,000 patients, providing over $550 million worth of donated dental treatment.
  
  
• They accept patients who are elderly, living with disabilities, medically compromised, or veterans and connect them with volunteer dentists who provide comprehensive care.
  
  
• The organization has seen a decrease in volunteers due to retirement and dentists joining DSOs, but they are building partnerships with DSOs to encourage more dentists to volunteer.
  
  
• Dental Lifeline Network makes it easy for dentists to volunteer by handling the triaging and coordination of appointments. They ask dentists to take on one or two patients per year.
  
  
• The organization emphasizes the importance of involving the entire dental team in volunteerism, as it boosts employee morale and helps with talent recruitment and retention.
  
  
• The Dental Lifeline Network aims to serve as many patients as possible and measures success by the number of patients served and the value of donated dental treatment.

Click here to listen to the podcast or simply hit the Play button below.