Mr. W. is a single father of 3 teenage children, aged 11,13, and 15.  He received treatment through the Donated Dental Services (DDS) program in October 2004.  Mr. W. became a single parent when his wife passed away from cancer in 2004.  Mr. W. has also been diagnosed with cancer; luckily, his cancer is in remission at present.

Mr. W. had not been able to see a dentist since 2001, he was in great pain and needed a routine crown on tooth 21.  With expenses mounting, not to mention raising a family as a single dad, Mr. W. had no means to alleviate his dental pain.  Mr. W and his family lost their health insurance after their mother passed away.  Upon acceptance into the DDS program by Program Coordinator, Gerri Buffuto, Mr. W. was treated by Dr. K. (pictured below with Mr. W.) Dr. K., DDS volunteer since 1994, graciously agreed to donate his talents to Mr. W. In addition, Glidewell Labratory agreed to donate a crown.

 The team effort that went into helping Mr. W. is typical of many DDS cases.  DDS prides itself on being able to spread the load, so that no one individual is asked to contribute more than they are able.  Our team oriented approach allows us to help more people, and, is designed specifically to not over extend our volunteers.  We care what our volunteers do, and recognize that for dentists to be able to volunteer they must first be able to stay in business.  On behalf of everyone involved in the DDS program we would like to say thank you to Dr. K and all of the other 12,000 volunteer dentists and 2,000 volunteer labs.