Tar Heel Ambassadors
“We are ambassadors for the school, community and state.”
“We are ambassadors for the school, community and state.”
The Dental SHAC — the Dental Student Health Action Coalition Clinic — at the UNC Adams School of Dentistry is one of the oldest student-led free dental clinics in the U.S.
The first SHAC clinics opened in Edgemont, North Carolina, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1968. The clinics were met with resistance at first because the students advertised an open-door policy, allowing patients to seek care regardless of age, race, sexual orientation or ability to pay. Eventually, the community came to see the benefits of a local, primary facility which offered a multitude of health care services.
Students, under the supervision of residents and faculty members, provide patients cost-free preventative oral health education, screenings, fillings, cleanings and extractions.
In 2018, SHAC received a $75,000 gift from Richmond Dental and Medical, a division of Barnhardt Manufacturing Company.
“The generous contribution from Richmond Dental and Medical gives the current SHAC coordinators more time to focus solely on patients, while alleviating the time-consuming stress associated with raising funds for supplies,” said Minka Hotic, DDS Candidate 2019, student coordinator for the SHAC clinic.
Read the complete Carolina Story from the UNC Adams School of Dentistry…Opens in new window
