Lasting Impressions | Fall 2014

NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE © 31 T he gates did not open until 5:30 a.m. on a Friday, but by 3:30 a.m., the lines already were long. Those waiting were fairly patient. After all, they had come just to see what could take away the pain they had lived with for months. Many needed to have cavities filled, bad teeth pulled, whatever it would take to dull or get rid of the pain and bring back their smiles. Not having dental care means suffering through all of those things and more. But this wasn’t happening in a poor country. This was Tampa, Florida. “The amount of dental disease was pretty overwhelming. I was quite taken aback,” said Diane Ede-Nichols, D.M.D., M.H.L., M.P.H., chair of the section of community dentistry at NSU’s College of Dental Medicine. “We took out all the remaining teeth of three or four patients,” she said. “One after the other. They were young people. It was very disturbing. I can still see it. The good news is that the FDA is planning on continuing this effort, and next year, they’re talking about a South Florida site.” Diane Ede-Nichols, right, observes CDM student RickyPan. CDM students, such as Casey Lynn, treated patients all day in Tampa.