Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE - Several organizations are teaming up to offer free dental services to those in need April 22 and 23 on the main campus of Biltmore Baptist Church on Clayton Road in south Asheville.

The two-day dental clinic provided by the North Carolina Dental Society, Buncombe County Dental Society, Buncombe County, Eblen Charities, ABCCM, and other partners brings together the dental community and volunteers to provide free care to hundreds of families.

The clinic will begin at 7 a.m. both days, and patients will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis.

Services will include dental X-rays, extractions, fillings, restorative care, and a limited number of removable dental prostheses.

The North Carolina Missions of Mercy portable free dental clinics are an outreach program of the North Carolina Dental Society. This will be the fourth time that Eblen Charities has joined Missions of Mercy Dental Outreach.

“This is again a wonderful opportunity for our community and for our area dentists who show their care and concern for those who are underserved. The Missions of Mercy project not only brings attention to the access to care issue but also provides actual care to so many in need. Once again we are looking to provide upwards of a half-million dollars in free dental care thanks to everyone involved,” Bill Murdock, executive director of Eblen Charities, said in a news release.

Eblen Charities board member Dr. Jack Teague brought Missions of Mercy to the Asheville area in August 2010.

“The 2016 Asheville Area Mission of Mercy Free Dental Clinic will provide free dental care to those in need in our community,” said Dr. Glenn Miller, chairman of the 2016 MOM- Asheville Dental Clinic. “More than 240 volunteers will help in the operation of the 40 dental chair clinic.”

Partners in this year’s Missions of Mercy Free Dental Clinic include Buncombe County, the Buncombe County Dental Society, Biltmore Baptist Church, Ingles Markets, Mission Health, Wise Dental Lab, A-B Tech Allied Health, ABCCM, MB Haynes, Arby’s, Pepsi, Hampton Inns, Biltmore Oil, TD Bank, PSNC, Covenant Community Church, Salsarita’s, the Community Foundation of WNC, numerous area churches and individual donors.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Susan Riddle at 828-255-3066, Ext. 21 or sriddle@eblencharities.org, or visit www.ncmom.com. Ro volunteer email Mary Ann McMinn at mcminn@eblencharities.org