Thousand Smiles Foundation

08.17.2004 - Greetings!

All of us are making our living off JB Dental Supply Company and the dental industry. Shawn Moore puts as much back into the industry as he is taking out and we all need to recognize his contributions to Thousand Smiles.

For those of you who may not be aware of Thousand Smiles, it is an organization put together to take care of children in need of dental care that do not have any other way of receiving treatment.

Shawn asked me to attend the Thousand Smiles session in Ensenada, Mexico and when I heard of all the S.D. dentists and other S. Cal. Dentists that were going to be there I agreed to go.

The first morning of the meeting appeared to be total chaos; there were a couple hundred mothers/fathers with children scrambling around the Thousand Smiles Clinic hoping to be treated for cleft palates, decay, infections etc. I have been in this business a half century and I have never seen approx. 40 children in one location with severe cleft palate problems. The age of the children ranged from months old to late teens. The most severe case I saw had the cleft going all the way up the child’s nose. It was very sad but help was there, and this child will be cared as well as all of the other children with lesser problems.

The second day of this gathering was totally different, all of the children had been screened and their appointments were arranged. Starting at 6:30 AM with the oral surgery area and moving on to general dental procedures. The whole scene was one of calm and total organization. Smiles were being perfected and maladies corrected. (Yes, there was Shawn waiting for a chair, light, unit, X-ray, vacuum or air compressor to hiccup and “Captain Toolbox” was there and in a flash the hiccup was cured.)

The doctors came not only from all over CA, they came as far away as Japan to treat these kids. Dr. Terry Tanaka, who is on staff at USC School of Dentistry, seemed to be the clinic coordinator and in spite of his fame was sitting there doing lab work for some simple prosthesis. There are dentists with every specialty from oral surgery to orthodontics and general dentistry as well as hygienists, dental assistants, students, retired dentists and just people who want to help dong everything from technical to sweeping floors and consoling patients.

Guess who is the International President of this organization? Shawn Moore! Talk about putting a little back into where you make your living—Shawn exemplifies giving. Shawn gives of his time and skills and also gives a bit of his heart to these kids and Thousand Smiles. But don’t take my word. Go online and call up www.thousandsmiles.org and view the patients and professionals at work.

JB Dental is very fortunate to have Shawn Moore wearing our name tag! Somehow Shawn puts a whole new meaning to the term “Service Technician”!

Thanks,

John