JONESTOWN — The mobile dental unit in Jonestown operated until 2013 until there was a shortage of funding.
But God Ministries and the Mississippi State Department of Health partnered in 2016 to get it up and running again. A ribbon cutting was held Thursday night and dentists came to Jonestown on Friday to provide free services in the mobile dental unit. They will be back on Nov. 30.
“Anything that’s beneficial to the town, I’m always behind it,” said Jonestown mayor Kenny Lester at the ribbon cutting. “It’s always going to be something we definitely need.”
Doctors talked about their reasons for wanting to give back.
Angela Filzen, the Mississippi State Department of Health director of office of oral health, earned a degree in biology from Tougaloo College and then went to Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
“As a state agency, our mission is to promote health and prevent disease,” Filzen said. “We care about what is happening in our communities. Mississippi has a shortage of dental providers, medical providers, mental health providers. And so we want to bring the non-traditional healthcare services to our patients.”
Filzen said she would like the mobile dental unit to be continuous and the goal is to find more dentists.
Lance Dillon earned his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State and became a dentist after attending University Medical Center in Jackson.
“I’ve done mission work in the past and it’s always been out of the country,” Dillon said. “I could see that we had a need in Mississippi to do it instead and God led me here.”
Dillon said he has done mission work in Mexico, but saw a need in rural communities in the United States.
“It’s a great facility,” he said. “It’s got a lot of technology that a lot of places don’t even have in some of the cities.”
The technology includes digital x-rays and some laser-detecting devices for cavities.
Lance Dillon’s son, Austin, just applied for his medical degree at University Medical Center in Jackson. He got involved because he looks up to his father.
“I like it because it’s an opportunity for a ministry,” Austin Dillon said. “People come in. If somebody’s hurting, we can help them in a physical way, but we can also help them spiritually if they’re hurting spiritually and lead them closer to Jesus Christ.”
Gennette Robinson, a dental hygienist for more than 30 years, received her certification from Meharry Medical College and her masters degree from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. She worked for dental hygienist E.J. Stringer in Columbus when she was younger and his mission was to give back.
Robinson is now doing the same.
“I’m really retired from the Columbus Air Force Base,” Robinson said. “My mission at that place was to make sure that military were ready to serve.”
Seymone Lewis, a dental hygienist and the division director of the office of oral health in the Mississippi State Department of Health, earned her degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and has been practicing since 2011.
“Public health is all about helping your fellow man because oral care is very important,” Lewis said. “A lot of times, people tend to forget that the mouth is connected to the body. A lot of illness can happen as a result of having poor dental care.”
