A mission of mercy: free dental clinic treats patients at San Angelo church

SAN ANGELO — Dozens of patients were treated to free dental care on Saturday as part of the Texas Mission of Mercy clinic hosted by the First United Methodist Church on Saturday.

Held according to COVID-19 protocols, medical staff at the pop-up dental clinic performed a variety of procedures to help low-income individuals.

One dental care recipient said she was thankful for the opportunity. Lola Luthe said the staff at the clinic exhibited a high level of compassion for patients.

"The bedside manner here was great," Luthe said. "They volunteer their time and take care of people. They have a lot of compassion for people. I was very pleased to be able to come here. I think it's awesome that they are giving back to the community."

Dr. B.J. Currey, with Texas Mission of Mercy, said the organization has worked in San Angelo before and were impressed with the local medical staff volunteers who give their time and effort to help people.

"We are trying to provide access to dental care for adults," Currey said. "There's very little access to dental care if you don't have private insurance for the adult population in Texas. So we're mainly working with veterans, the working poor, the disabled and senior citizens. This is our second time being in San Angelo and the people here have exceeded our highest expectations."

Lesa Parry with First United Methodist Church, which hosted and facilitated the event, said one of the primary goals of the clinic was to ease suffering related to dental issues.

"Our goal was to help get dental care services for people who couldn't afford it," Parry said. "Our main goal was to get people out of pain and get to where they could function and not have health issues related to that pain. The church has been huge because they gave us the venue and provided financial support. Without them, we could not have done this."

Colin Murphey is a photojournalist covering all things in West Texas for the San Angelo Standard-Times. Send him a news tip at CMurphey@gannett.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.