Wesley Chapel Dentist Ronak Parikh donates time to Mission Smiles, helping victims of human trafficking and domestic violence get their smiles back. Photos from Bay Breeze Dental
When dentist Ronak Parikh moved to Wesley Chapel, he was looking for a way to give back, more than just the occasional few days working for a low-income clinic.
He found his way with Mission Smiles, a nonprofit that offers dental work to those who have no insurance, have been the victims of human trafficking or the victims of domestic abuse.
Parikh, with Bay Breeze Dental, goes out in a mobile dental lab about twice a month and is amazed at the number of people he sees who have been victims, he said.
“Especially in the Tampa Bay area, I didn’t realize the size of the problem in human trafficking,” he said. “We just started seeing a lot of it really recently. Up to then, it was patients undergoing cancer treatment but didn’t have dental treatment. They have to have all dental prior to treatment, because they are way more likely to have infection once treatment starts.”
On one particular day, he treated a victim of human trafficking who was trying to kick a drug addiction. She was in so much pain she was considering going back to illicit drugs for relief. He knew it was one of three things causing her pain.
“We zeroed in and took out one area that was really infected and instantly she felt all the pressure from her nose release,” Parikh said. “She was pain free for the first time in a year and a half. It was great to see. I was pretty proud. I took a shot. You just take the win.”
Donations to Mission Tampa, which oversees the dental program, are tax deductible.
