Serving Our Community

 

                                    

 

 

 

Dr. Sherwin, his family, and staff, have always been involved in several different community projects. Most notably, is his involvement with the Donated Dental Program and The Children's Dental Access Program here in Orange Virginia and the M.O.M. Project in South West Virginia. 

For more information on these wonderful programs or to volunteer, please visit the hyper-links below;

 Please be sure to view the video collage of photos that Dr. Sherwin took of the M.O.M. Project that he attended in the wake of hurricane Katrina, New Orleans. (You can find it at the Mission of Mercy hyperlink below)

 

 

   

 Dr. Sherwin's day on the Hill, representing the VDA, and addressing the legislature.

 

                                                   

 

Hitting the hard topics with Delegate Bobby Orrock.

 

 

 

 

14th Annual Mission of Mercy 2013.

Celebrating 50,000 patients served!

Suzanne, Helen, Dr. Sherwin, Melissa and Bettina.

 

 

Hard at work and enjoying every moment are Virginia State Senator Phil Puckett, VDA President Elect Dr. Ted Sherwin, Dr. Terry Dickinson, Senator Tim Kaine and ADA President Dr. Bob Faiella.

 

 

   

Dr. Sherwin and ADA President Dr. Bob Faiella, speak to Stan Brock, Director of R.A.M. and former Co Host of Wild Kingdom.

 

 

Making beautiful smiles, one patient at a time!

 

 

  

13th Annual Mission of Mercy Project.

 

  

                 Thanks to the Lions and Lioness' for keeping us fed and taking such good care of the volunteers! (2012)

 

  

   As happy to see us as we were them! (2012)

 

      

     People come from all walks and trials of life..... (2012)

 

                  

                          Families return year after year, to help keep themselves and their loved ones healthy. (2012)

 

                                            

                   Trying to stay dry, wasn't always an easy feat! (2012)

 

              

 

                                                   

 Governor Bob McDonnell made a special appearance for such a worthy cause. He and Dr. Sherwin share a hello, a smile, and a passion for helping others. (2011)

 

   Dr. Sherwin taking a moment to catch up with friends and fellow volunteers. (2011)

 

                                                                       

          The lives being changed and the hearts being touched, went on throughout the day as smiles abound from patient to patient. (2011)

                                       

Inclement weather and heat couldn't damper or hinder this group of determined volunteers. (2011)

 

                                      

 

 http://www.vdaf.org/Missions-Of-Mercy/mission-of-mercy.html

http://www.vdaf.org/Donated-Dental-Services/donated-dental-services.html

http://www.vdaf.org/Give-Kids-A-Smile/give-kids-a-smile.html

 

O.C. Magazine June 29th, 2009

An Ancient Art

By Sarah C. Honenberger

 

Picture fog. Dense gray. A blankness that reveals nothing; no outline of pine bough, no high wire of telephone, no square edge of concrete building. In that space beyond the tarmac of the tiny Wise County airfield you know those things exist but there is no proof this particular morning. You must rely on faith.

Imagine the early morning summer heat that lies heavy and thick in that void, a July fog that pins you down despite the mountains you know surround the bottomland of the airport and disconnected from all that you know. Why are you there?

For Ted Sherwin, a local dentist here in Orange, this surreal scene remains etched on his memory. Ten years into his practice, he arrived one July day in Wise County, eager to expand his mission to bring dental hygiene to underserved families. A world traveler and amateur photographer, Sherwin came for his first Mission of Mercy (MOM) project 10 years ago. But when the fog lifted, what he saw inspired him to return, each time awed at the extent of the need, and the difference the volunteers make in thousands of lives.

As the fog lifted on Sherwin's first mission, huddles of people appeared, many in blankets. People emerged from tents and cars, parked the night before to guarantee the would receive help. Lines as long as one-half mile wove from the far fields to the hangars. Bustling volunteers moved tables and supplies into place, MCV medical students organized mobile triage units, 60 stations in all.  They clamped outside tarps to makeshift poles to protect the oral surgeons and nurses from the rain and heat, so typical of southwest Virginia's foothills.

    "Over the next 30 hours we saw teens who had all their teeth removed.  Filled cavities.  Treated thousands of people basic dental care that most of us take for granted."

Sherwin describes the seven-hour drive home as a blur of physical exhaustion and spiritual renewal.

With eight MOM trips behind him now, Sherwin's family has been there from the first and has become as committed as he is.  His wife, Suzanne,  directs patients, often helping families where no one reads, listening to symptoms, holding hands,    answering    question.Sherwin describes his son's growing involvement.

"Dean brought games to play and went up and down the lines visiting the kids.  When he got a little older, he worked with the 'fix it folks' who keep the equipment running.  Last year he was adopted by the MCV students doing root canal so he had chairside experience."

All three Sherwins will be back in Wise this summer.

Missions like MOMs are organized by the Virginia Dental Association to provide care in underserved areas.  Services are delivered free of charge to anyone who comes until the weekend is over.  Sherwin's family and office staff have also participated in a similar free clinic in New Orleans just weeks after Hurricane Katrina.  Locally Sherwins' practice, where Suzanne manages the front office, donates hours for treatment and education for young patients to promote dental health.

"It's amazing,"  Sherwins says, "how many fewer problems our second generation kids have.  Education made a real difference."

Despite Sherwin's input into the ongoing dental hygiene program at Germanna Community College he still believes that 35-40% of Orange county school children have dental pain that causes them to miss school.  If local citizens want to join these efforts, Sherwin recommends calling the Orange Free Clinic about volunteering.  One of the other satisfying parts of his mission travels is the opportunity to photograph while he's there.  With several technical classes to learn how to use the more complicated digital camera he purchased five years ago, he practices the art of picture taking on his own.

"Most of what I take at the free clinics I send to the sponsoring dental association to use on their websites."

Sherwin's photos have been published on the covers of 13 state, nation and international dental magazines.  And he enters the occasional contest with those associations.

Even before the mission work Sherwin spent hours taking photos wherever he traveled.  His office walls display some of his work from Ireland, Italy, South America, Russia and Greece.

"The best place around here are the Virginia byways, and of course, Montpelier."

Although Sherwin's son enjoys traveling with his parents, the doc realized early on that his spending an hour photographing one spot might not be as interesting for Dean.

"When he was 10, we picked a hobby that we could share.  Now we scuba dive and Suzanne is happy if there's a beach close by."

Although good dental hygiene is serious business for Sherwin, he doesn't mind a joke or two at the expense of dentists.  Besides that favorite memory of the fog lifting in Wise County, he recalls an old sitcom where Tim Conway is teaching himself dentistry to treat Harvey Korman.  In process of reading the instructions Conway administers the Novocain to his own arm and leg.

"About as funny as dentistry gets."  Sherwin laughs, another powerful remedy for what ails you.