Hopkins Dentist Offers Delayed Valentine’s Gift: “Dentistry from the Heart” Spreads Free Smiles

Dr. Scott Shamblott of Shamblott Family Dentistry will be giving free dentistry to those in need through the Dentistry from the Heart program in Hopkins, MN on February 26, 2010 starting at 7:00am.

Check this web page frequently for further details as they are released.

http://www.shamblottfamilydentistry.com - Celebrate late this year – the last Friday of February, almost two weeks after Valentine’s Day, Shamblott Family Dentistry will again spread goodwill and cheer to the local community with a Dentistry from the Heart (DFTH) event. This year’s DFTH will be the fourth annual event offering gifts of free fillings and extractions to the first people who show up at Dr. Scott Shamblott’s office in Hopkins.

On Friday, February 26, Dr. Shamblott and his staff will provide free dental care to those in need. DFTH began in 2001 as one dentist’s charitable act for the Tampa Bay community. In the years since, it has grown steadily and is now hosted by dental offices across the country. Since its inception, DFTH has given away over $2.5 million in dental work to over 10,500 patients.

With the rising cost of dental and medical services, and the current economic crisis, demand is expected to be greater than ever. Dr. Shamblott is again recruiting other dentists to join him in giving back this year, hoping to serve more patients than ever as the need for this free service continues to grow. This is Dr. Shamblott’s way of giving back to the community, offering care to those who can’t afford it, and providing aid to the growing number of Americans without dental insurance.

Dr. Shamblott and his fellow volunteers will start work at 7:00 a.m. and continue working throughout the day, caring for as many people as they can. Patients will be examined and will receive free fillings or extractions as time permits. Work will be done on a first come, first served basis.

The office gets busier each year during this event, and this year Dr. Shamblott intends to increase efforts to spread the word about the free services. "There are so many individuals who need dental care and can’t afford it. We want them to know that there is somewhere they can go to get help," says Dr. Shamblott. His office is partnering with local media to call attention to Dentistry from the Heart, and continues to work with religious and social organizations to spread the word.

Each year, Dr. Shamblott finds that “The biggest demand is from people who’ve been hurting for a long time. This is what they need: someone who can do a little work for them at no charge. We get a lot of hugs and we get a lot of kisses – all we ask for in return is a smile and a thank you.”

“After seeing what we accomplished with our event again last year, we realize there is a great need for Dentistry from the Heart in our community,” said Dr. Scott Shamblott. “There is an opportunity to provide dental care to many people who couldn’t otherwise afford it, and we hope to be able to treat more people this year than we did last, impacting more lives and making an even bigger difference in our community.”

Dr. Shamblott and his team do whatever they can on DFTH day to relieve pain and fix problems. Patients who need ongoing care or have problems that cannot be fixed in one day are referred to community clinics, where they can receive ongoing treatment at low or no cost. “We spend the rest of the year simply running a traditional dental practice,” Dr Shamblott said. “One day is a pretty small thing but we think it makes a difference in the lives of the people who come to us for help.”

“Dentistry from the Heart is a way of giving thanks for our own successes,” Dr. Shamblott said. “We encourage other dentists to join us next year, volunteering their time and lending their skills to this cause. Someday, I’d like to have 50 dentists treat 600 patients, like the founder of Dentistry from the Heart has in Tampa Bay.”

Dr. Shamblott was the first dentist in Minnesota to join Dentistry from the Heart when he hosted his first event in 2007, and Shamblott Family Dentistry is recruiting additional offices to participate on February 26 this year. In 2010, more than 200 practices in 48 states and Canada are expected to hold similar events.

About Shamblott Family Dentistry: Shamblott Family Dentistry,
33 Tenth Avenue South, Suite 250 in Hopkins, 952-935-5599, www.shamblottfamilydentistry.com, is run by Hopkins dentist Dr. Scott Shamblott and offers a wide variety of dental treatments including sedation dentistry and same day emergency appointments.

Dentistry from The Heart - '09

Minneapolis Sedation Dentist Emergency Dentist and Cosmetic Dentist

Dentistry From The Heart A Huge Success In Hopkins –
Many Took Advantage Of Free Care At Shamblott Family Dentistry – Hopkins, MN

On February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day, Dr. Scott Shamblott and his staff spread goodwill and cheer to the local community with his third annual Dentistry from the Heart (DFTH) event. They offered free fillings and extractions at Shamblott Family Dentistry in Hopkins.

Dr. Shamblott and his friend, Dr. Chad Olson, spent the day treating 55 patients who otherwise would not have been able to afford dental care. They donated more than $18,000 worth of dentistry to the patients who chose to visit them that day. Patients came from as far as 100 miles away to benefit from this special day.

When the doctor and his staff arrived at the office at 6:30am, there was a line inside the building, and another line outside the building. The waiting room was full and there was a line down the hall for much of the day. The plan was to serve patients on a first-come, first-served basis, and that worked well – all patients who were in line by 11:00am were treated, as the doctors worked until almost 5:00pm to ensure that everyone could be seen.

The biggest demand, according to Dr. Shamblott, was for extractions. The doctors removed many teeth that day, helping to rid many patients of long-term pain. “Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people in our community who can not afford to pay for dental care,” says Dr. Shamblott. “These are the people we try to help with Dentistry from the Heart. As more people find themselves without dental insurance, it becomes harder for them to afford proper dental care.”

Key to this year’s success were local newspapers, KARE11 TV, and FM107 radio, all of which provided Dr. Shamblott with the opportunity to get the word out to those in need. “It doesn’t do any good for me to offer a day like this if no one knows about it. This was our best turnout yet, and I couldn’t have done it without the support of the local media. Their support offered an invaluable way to spread the word about Dentistry from the Heart,” said Dr. Shamblott.

This is the third year that Dr. Shamblott and his team participated in DFTH. “The rest of the year we run a regular dental practice. One day a year we try to make a big difference in the lives of those people who can’t afford to take care of their teeth. The last three years have been such a great experience that we’re already planning ahead for an expanded program in 2010.”

Dentistry from the Heart (DFTH) began in 2001 in Tampa Bay, FL. It is now hosted by more than 50 dental offices across the country, and had provided more than 2,500 people with over $2,500,000 in free dental work through the end of 2008. Dr. Shamblott brought DFTH to Minnesota for Valentine’s Day 2007, to give back to our community. Shamblott Family Dentistry is the only dental office in Minnesota registered to participate in DFTH this year.

Does DFTH make a difference? “You bet it does,” said Dr. Shamblott. “We receive thanks every year – cards, emails, phone calls, even hugs. It’s great. This year, one little girl drew a picture of two people. I asked to tell me about her picture, and she told me the one was a dentist, and he made it so the other one, a little girl just like her, could smile and eat and it wouldn’t hurt. That’s what makes this all worthwhile.”