TALLAHASSEE–Smile! A mobile dental clinic might be in your church’s future.

If your church is considering hosting the Florida Baptist Convention’s Mobile Dental Unit as a mission outreach, Merrilee White says you should say yes to this opportunity.

This was the first year that First Baptist Church of Tallahassee hosted the clinic, and White said she and the other volunteers who helped coordinate the event are already looking forward to doing it again in 2026.

Approximately 150 appointments were filled, giving people much-needed dental care during the six-day event held in May. That was the largest number of people served at one of the clinics this year, and the largest since the pandemic. This included dental cleanings, fillings and tooth extractions. In addition to the two stations on the Mobile Dental Clinic, the church also set up a hygienist station inside the church to take care of just cleanings.

White said the event was a success in several ways.

“A lot of people got the care they so desperately needed,” she said. “And our church members had a new way to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Another benefit was the way our church members become better acquainted with one another as they volunteered together.”

As you consider hosting the clinic at your church, here’s a look at what is involved.

Recruiting dental professionals      

One of the most important parts of this mission was to recruit dentists, hygienists and dental assistants. White said they started doing the recruiting last fall.

“It was slow going at first,” she said. “There were other free dental care events that they were used to participating in. Many had not done a Baptist dental mission before. This was a new thing for our church and for these dentists.”

White and her team recruited 13 dentists and 13 hygienists from 11 different offices. The good news is the dental professionals enjoyed the work and asked to be notified of the next dental mission, she said. “I think recruiting will go easier next year.”

“They did an amazing job of recruiting that many dentists,” said Marc Johnston, who leads community ministries for the Florida Baptist Convention. “That’s just fantastic.”

They also had to recruit all of the church volunteers who worked the event.

“We also had well over 120 volunteers from our church who jumped on board and took on roles they felt marginally prepared for but were willing to step out in faith and give it a shot,” she said.

Getting the word out

In addition to publicizing the event across social media, the church also sent flyers to social service agencies and to local food pantries, which put the flyers inside the bags of food that people received.

“I think that was really one of the major sources of how people found out about what we were doing,” she said.

Screening attendees

Each person who received services at the dental clinic had to be screened to ensure they were eligible financially. Church volunteers took the training from the Florida Department of Health and screened each of the 125 people.

“We helped people answer the questions and made sure they were qualified,” she said. “Out of all the people we screened, we really only had one who was not eligible.”

Once people were screened, they were then given an appointment time. One week before the event, 75% of the appointment slots had been filled. The remainder for the week were filled the first day.

Long days

The schedule ran from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on three days, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the other days. On the long days the shifts would run from 8 a.m. to noon, then break for an hour. Then go from 1 to 5 p.m., break for an hour, and back from 6 to 9 p.m. White noted the night shifts filled up first because more dentists and hygienists could do those time slots.

Food crew                  

Church volunteers also served as the food crew, providing lunches, snacks and beverages each day and an additional dinner meal during the 12-hour shift days. “We had a wonderful food crew. She recruited different people for different meals and offered a mix of purchased food and prepared food.”

Prayer teams

One group of church volunteers served on the spiritual care team. Their role was to initiate conversations with those who were waiting for their appointments and ask if they could pray for them. This included praying for those who were in pain as they waited for their appointment time. These volunteers were also ready to share the gospel with everyone they spoke to.

Training        

If your church is interested in participating in this mission, the Florida Baptist Convention can provide the information and training you need. White and a few other church members attended a training event last spring that helped provide all that is required in hosting this event.

“That’s when I knew we have to try this,” White said. “We have done events in the past where we helped veterans, and there was always such gratitude because pain was being relieved for dental issues that people had for years. They were able to get care for free that they could not have afforded any other way.”

Johnston said dental clinics are a popular ministry, with 32 scheduled at Florida churches this year.  The majority are done as weeklong events, just like First Baptist Tallahassee did. While the 2026 schedule is almost complete, there are still some weeks available.

The compassion aspect of the ministry is what appeals to most churches, Johnston said, especially those who have done any previous compassion work.

“They see the need, and they want to meet it,” he said. “We do have some churches that have used the dental ministry as a springboard to engage their community. It really helps them get started.”

White raved about all the support and encouragement she received, not only from her fellow church volunteers, but from outside the church as well.

“We felt very loved and supported through the whole process,” she said. “The locals who had done this before were so helpful. And the trainers from the Florida Baptist Convention were awesome. They really do their best to prepare you for what we were going to experience.”

She encourages other churches to take advantage of this opportunity.

“This was a great experience for First Baptist Church of Tallahassee. We are just following in the footsteps of churches who have done this for years with huge success and have wonderful stories to tell about it.”