Foundation Pilots Outreach Program Offering Helping Hands and Smiles in the United States
CHICAGO – The American Association of Endodontists’ philanthropic arm, the Foundation for Endodontics, is marking the opening of a new endodontics operatory at the Stephen Klein Wellness Center in Philadelphia with a ribbon cutting ceremony today.
The North Philadelphia center is operated by Project Home and will be staffed on a part-time basis by an endodontic resident and faculty member from Einstein’s I.B. Bender Division of Endodontics, Department of Dental Medicine. It serves low-income patients who would otherwise likely face tooth extraction.
“Patients at the Project Home clinic will now have the opportunity to save their natural teeth under the care of an endodontic specialist,” said Dr. Peter Morgan, president of the Foundation for Endodontics. “What a great benefit to that community and a great experience for endodontic residents. This is a rewarding outcome to all of the work by all involved.”
This endeavor was inspired by the Foundation’s mission expansion in 2016 to include access to care. Philadelphia endodontist and Past President of the Foundation for Endodontics Dr. Louis Rossman, who endorsed a domestic mission when he was head of the Foundation will be volunteering his time as a faculty member at the clinic.
“My idea was to take the nearly 450 post-doctoral residents who attend close to 58 different universities learning to specialize in endodontics and have them rotate in their local communities,” Dr. Rossman said. “The decision was made to use Project Home at the Klein Wellness Center as our trial program.”
In the past, the Foundation has funded volunteer outreach opportunities to Jamaica, but this is its first domestic undertaking.
“You don’t have to go far out of our own zip code to see the desperate need for our services,” said AAE member Dr. Frederic Barnett, chairman of the Maxwell S. Fogel Department of Dental Medicine at Einstein. “We are looking forward to a long-term association with Project Home and the vulnerable people they serve.”
The Foundation would like to thank Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc. for providing one OPMI PICO microscope on a long-term loan basis for use in the operatory. A special thank you to Brasseler and Henry Schein Inc. for the discounted sale of all other endodontic equipment that will be used in the operatory.
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About the Foundation for Endodontics
American Association of Endodontists Foundation, headquartered in Chicago and incorporated in 1966, is the philanthropic arm of the AAE. As a 501(c)(3) charity organization, it is to support endodontics by providing resources and funding for research, education, public awareness and access to care. For information about the Foundation for Endodontics, please visit aae.org/foundation.