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Dr. Rhonda Switzer, IFDC Executive Director

For 14 years, the Interfaith Dental Clinic (IFDC) has been filling more than just teeth — the nonprofit organization also fills a serious need in the community, providing affordable access to dental care for qualifying patients.

Both the number of patients served and the growth of the clinic over the years is a testament to the importance of the mission — and the work provided by staff and volunteers is very much seen as a medical mission.

Dr. Rhonda Switzer, executive director of IFDC, has been with the organization for almost as long as it has been in existence. Switzer joined founder Dr. Tom Underwood just four months after the official October 1994 launch.

She said Underwood had participated in dental mission trips around the globe when he began to wonder what could be done about the oral health problems in his own backyard.

With the blessings and support of the Nashville Dental Society, the clinic opened in the basement of West End United Methodist Church.

“When we started, we had two dental chairs in a closet in the church,” Switzer recalled with a laugh. Although it was housed at the Methodist church, Switzer pointed out that the clinic has always enjoyed the support of volunteers and donors representing many faiths. “We knew early on it was more disease than one denomination could handle.”

She added that what started out as a pilot program quickly grew as word spread and more volunteers came on board. By the fall of 1998, IFDC purchased a building on Patterson Street that afforded much needed space.

“As we raised more dollars, we added more chairs,” Switzer noted, adding that a major renovation was completed in January 2006, taking the clinic to the current 10-chair capacity. Today, the clinic has a staff of 16 including three dentists and two hygienists plus a number of dental assistants and office personnel.

Expansion projects have always been driven by the demand for services.

“Last year we did over $2 million in care for the community,” Switzer pointed out. “We take 40 new families a month,” she added.

Dr. Mark Mappes, a local orthodontist and an IFDC volunteer, called the clinic “one of the hidden gems of Nashville.”

He added, “Bar none, I think it’s one of the finest programs of its type in the country. We’ve all been on dental missions — sometimes when you take care of the poor, you don’t have the best equipment. I’m telling you, this is the best of the best.”

The clinic is designed to serve low-income families who are working but don’t have dental insurance. To qualify, a patient must be a resident of Davidson or one of the contiguous counties and live below 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Although there is some flexibility in the “work” designation, typically a person would be expected to work 20-30 hours a week depending on their circumstances. Children and retired adults are also treated.

One of the reasons for the high demand is a limited number of other resources.

“Metro does not have any adult dental services, which people are surprised to find,” said Switzer. She amended her statement to note that Nashville does provide a dental clinic for the homeless but not for other residents over age 21.

Switzer said that instead, most low-income adults must search for other options such as IFDC, Meharry School of Dentistry Clinic and Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center.

At IFDC, patients pay on a sliding fee scale for services. The lowest the clinic will go is an 80 percent discount off usual and customary community fees.

“In our program, we believe everyone should pay a little something,” Switzer noted, adding that the fee payment funds the mission, provides a sense of value to the providers’ work and empowers patients to take an active role in their oral health.

Switzer called the clinic a “second chance” program. She explained that by the time patients arrived at the clinic, their dental issues had generally become very apparent. “This is a second chance — rehab for your poor oral health — but it’s not a third chance,” she noted, saying that patients are expected to maintain the work that has been done by employing good dental habits and “graduating” to see a community dentist on a regular basis.

A key component of the Interfaith Dental Clinic is the staff’s comprehensive approach. In addition to providing corrective and specialty services, a lot of effort is put into preventative measures and oral health screenings. Switzer said that clinicians also educate patients on topics ranging from nutrition to budgeting for future dental expenditures.

Not only do the providers involved believe their mission is important from an oral health perspective, but Switzer said that correcting someone’s dental deficits has a much bigger impact.

“We believe people can move out of this cycle of poverty with improved oral health,” she stated. “It makes them much more employable — much more self confident — their overall health is better, and they pass that information along to their children.”

Now that’s something to smile about.


Interfaith Dental Clinic
1721 Patterson Street
(615) 329-4790
www.interfaithdentalclinc.com

Clinic Hours:
8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday
8 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday
8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday
All patients must be pre-qualified.



June 2008

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