West Point Rotary Club celebrates 100 years with dental outreach event

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – Dr. Bill Busch was inspired to help others with their dental needs after a tragic occurrence in 2006.

“Deamonte Driver was a 12-year-old boy in Maryland who passed away from a tooth that had been abscessed,” Busch said. “The mother didn’t have dental insurance. She brought the child to the hospital, and it was too late. The child died. I was watching the news in Kansas City that night and it asked how could this happen in one of the world’s most wealthy countries. I just thought we needed to do something more than what were doing for the kids.

Team Smile was born and now operates in more than 30 states. They offer screenings, cleanings, or whatever the dental need is, and fix it right then and there.

It started with the Kansas City Chiefs, but Busch said they pick a sport that’s familiar to the area, in this case, fishing, and Mississippi State football, and throw a big party.

“Kind of like a dental tailgate,” Busch said.

Local dentists, hygienists, and dental students from Ole Miss were there helping serve.

Project coordinator Jack Wells said this event was exactly what they were looking for to celebrate the 100-year milestone of the West Point Rotary Club.

“What we’re looking for, is we want the children to leave here happy, and we want to make sure their dental health has been checked and addressed if there’s an issue,” Wells said.

West Point Mayor Rod Bobo said he hoped the event would show people that they are not alone.

“To have these guys come in with their dental students with many of them that may not have access to dental care,” Bobo said. “I want them to know that we as a community and community leaders do care about them and their well-being.”

Busch said he believed there are 10 most memorable events in one’s lifetime, and he wants Dentistry to be one of them.

“A lot of the kids have never seen a dentist before. And then to put them in a room with scary equipment,” Busch said. “With an environment like this, that’s fun and supportive of the community, it just gets their first visit to be memorable so they’ll never forget about how important their oral health and their smiles are to the successes they’ll have in the future.”

Around 300 children attended.

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