UNC School of Dentistry

Home > Community Service and Outreach

Introduction

Service Activities

Providing quality dental care and oral health education - The UNC School of Dentistry provides quality dental care and oral health education through a variety of community and outreach activities, including:

• Dentistry In Service to Communities, (DISC) coordinates the extramural rotations of UNC School of Dentistry students in communities across North Carolina and beyond.
• ENNEAD is a student-led volunteer organization whose mission is to serve the underserved populations in North Carolina through dentistry. ENNEAD members include primarily dental students, but also students from dental hygiene, advanced education and dental assisting programs.
• Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC), free clinics organized and run by UNC medical, dental and other health professional students, is another example of student-led community service and outreach in which the dental school participates (Dental Student Health Action Coalition).
• A broad variety of School of Dentistry student organizations also volunteer in communities to educate children and adults or participate in community programs focused on the underserved.

School of Dentistry students provided patient treatment at free N.C. Missions of Mercy clinics and participated in health fairs, among other oral health outreach efforts. “Our goal is to equip students with the skills and passion necessary to become future community leaders and volunteers, because community service is something we believe should extend beyond dental school and into our careers.” (from the ENNEAD Web site)

Community Involvement

Local

In addition to the above, the administration, faculty and staff of the School of Dentistry engage in many other service and outreach activities. We are involved with…

• The Orange County “Soup Kitchen Project”
• Orange County “Project Homeless Connect”
• Baptist Men’s Bus for free medical and dental care
• North Carolina Dental Society Missions of Mercy (MOM) free dental clinics
• N.C. Albert Schweitzer Fellows Program

Global Service and Outreach