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On Saturday, Oct. 4, Pollard joined a dozen other dentists from across the state, as well as dental hygienists, dental assistants and various volunteers in Waterloo, at The Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, to spend the day assisting people from across the state, who have low incomes or do not have dental care coverage, by providing free dental care at Iowa's first-ever Mission for Mercy.
Those seeking dental care at Mission for Mercy stood in line and waited their turn. There were no appointments or pre-registering required. Participants received various services including check-ups, teeth cleaning, teeth removal, fillings and even teeth replacement.
Pollard has donated his time at events like this before. He said he has been to Yucatan, Mexico, which he said is Iowa's sister state, as well as traveling to the Dominican Republic on missions.
Pollard said he and his son-in-law, Trevor Jensen, left Boone at 3:30 a.m. Oct. 4 to drive to Waterloo. After a quick orientation, at 7 a.m., Pollard saw his first patient. The event concluded at
5:30 p.m. The Mission for Mercy reported providing an estimated 1,000 Iowans with dental care Oct. 4-5.
"I found it's easier when you're outside of your own practice to do oral surgery," Pollard said. "We helped about 60 to 80 patients between us and there were about a dozen other dentists there."
The convention center acted as a full-service dentistry with restorative options, a lab, surgery and even root canals. Pollard said not only did various dentists and other workers donate their time, but they donated supplies and equipment as well.
"They had a triage to numb the patients before they came to us. So, we didn't have to numb very many patients. It was very well organized," Pollard said.
Pollard said the people who were helped were very appreciative.
"I've already received calls from people that I helped," Pollard said. "Some of these people have multiple challenging extractions. We helped people and they were very appreciative."
Pollard said he left the event with a good feeling.
"We had a euphoric feeling on our drive home. What we did is going to change peoples' lives; it's going to live on after us," Pollard said. "Our goal is to give people a healthier, cleaner mouth; which improves their overall quality of life. Having a healthy mouth adds ten years to a person's life."
Pollard said he plans to help at next year's Mission for Mercy, which he said will be held in Des Moines because it is a more central location in the state.
"I feel blessed that I can help the people here in Iowa that have helped me so much and give back," Pollard said.
Pollard Family Dentistry is located at 1905 S. Marshall St. as well as 306 W. Broadway St. in Eagle Grove. For more information, call the Boone location at (515) 432-3511 or the Eagle Grove location at (515) 448-5022.
Reach Katie Stines at kstines@newsrepublican.com.
