Dental school helps distribute masks to dentists statewide

The ECU School of Dental Medicine served as a distribution point for KN95 masks given to the North Carolina Dental Society (NCDS) by NC Emergency Management for use in patient care across the state.

Julie Helms picks up masks from Duncan Jennings with NCDS for Dr. Sara Frye. They are pictured with Gloria Oglesby, right, business manager of the Davidson County community service learning center. (Contributed photo)

Late last week, the NCDS began distributing the second round of 150,000 FDA-approved masks that are part of ramped-up personal protective equipment for dentists providing oral health care across North Carolina.

The School of Dental Medicine’s home faculty, Ross Hall, and all eight of its community service learning centers (CSLC) were among 14 pick-up points for dentists practicing near those respective areas. Dentists who are members of the NCDS or the American Dental Association were allotted 50 masks each.

This is the second time during the pandemic that the school has served as a distribution point for the masks and personal protective equipment—a solution that has worked smoothly in part because of the school’s strong collaborative relationship with the NCDS.

“Having a statewide presence allows the School of Dental Medicine the honor and responsibility of partnering with state and local organizations to serve the communities in ways like this,” said Dr. T. Rob Tempel, School of Dental Medicine associate dean for extramural clinical practices. “Our eight community service learning centers and Ross Hall teams partnered with the NCDS to ensure area dentists received their masks quickly, in order to provide the very best protective measures for patients and dental teams alike.”

Nicole Alley, clinic administrator for the School of Dental Medicine, helped coordinate the distribution of the masks to local dentists, many of whom visited Ross Hall to collect their masks.

“The partnership between the School of Dental Medicine and the NCDS for distributing these masks shows how we are committed to the dental health of all North Carolinians, and not just our patients,” Alley said. “Many of the providers who are signing up and stopping by are former students or have our students working in their practices, which is great to see.

“Our goal is to educate dentists who go back to the communities they come from to serve, and it’s important for us to show that we support them even after they leave.”

-by David Jones, School of Dental Medicine