Earlier this week, Harvard School of Dental Medicine joined a collaborative effort with the American Association of Endodontists (AAE), and the Schools of Dental Medicine at Boston University and Tufts University, to highlight the importance of saving teeth. Together, the Boston-area dental schools provided more than 50 endodontic treatments on Teeth Worth Saving Day, totaling more than $59,000 in value, to patients in need in the Boston area.
The effort was part of a contest sponsored by AAE focused on saving well-known natural landmarks and saving natural teeth. Boston’s Charles River Esplanade won the contest, receiving a donation from AAE and donated endodontic care to the city of Boston.
Patients were pre-screened and pre-qualified based on need. HSDM worked closely with colleagues at the Charles River Community Health Center to identify patients.
“This was a great experience to learn about patient needs from the community clinic. It was eye-opening to see that so many savable teeth would have otherwise been planned for extraction, because of the lack of insurance coverage for these procedures,” said Dr. Jennifer Gibbs, assistant professor and director of HSDM’s Division of Endodontics. “I plan to work with our community clinic to see what else we can do to continue to better serve this population.”
"We're thrilled to give back to the city of Boston and to collaborate with the endodontics departments of renowned dental schools in the area," said Dr. Keith V. Krell, president of the AAE in a statement. "We are grateful for the schools' generosity.”
