Two days. Two very different kinds of care. One mission. Here is a closer look at what March and April looked like at Mint for More.
Kids Free Dental Day: March 13
On March 13, the operatories filled up with children.
58 kids came through, most of them visiting a dentist for the first time. The whole team turned out — every doctor at Mint Dental Care, every hygienist, every assistant, and the admin staff. We had spent months in advance coordinating with local schools and partner organizations to identify children who did not have a dental home. We prepped operatories. We organized backpacks stocked with food, toiletries, and toys. We blocked the schedule.
On the day itself, we slowed down.
We let them wear the sunglasses. Bourbon and Weller, our therapy dogs, worked the waiting room for the kids who needed a little extra help settling in. We explained everything we were doing. We took our time.
Every child left with a cleaning. Many left with treatment plans we then scheduled into regular care. By the end of the day, we had delivered more than $50,000 in donated services. And every kid walked out carrying a backpack of things they needed.
Some of the kids who come through our doors have never seen a dentist. Not once.
If a kid’s first dental experience is traumatic, they’ll avoid the dentist for the rest of their life. If it’s positive, they’ll come back. That one visit can shape decades of health decisions.
For some of these children, it’s the first toothbrush they’ve ever owned. That’s not an exaggeration.
Adult Free Dental Day: April 10
Four weeks later, the numbers came first.
- 49 patients seen
- 182 teeth removed
- 3 sets of dentures delivered
- 4 more sets of dentures started
- Cleanings completed in between
Like Kids Day, this was a whole-team event — every doctor at Mint Dental Care, every hygienist, every assistant, all in operatories together for the day.
What those numbers do not capture is the quiet of the drive home for the patient who walked out with teeth in their mouth for the first time in years. Or the moment a person who had been chewing on one side since 2019 tried a meal again. Or what it felt like for a patient to see themselves in a mirror and recognize the face looking back.
Every patient on April 10 came to us through a community partner. That is not a detail. That is the whole model.
Mint for More does not accept self-referrals. We do not run applications. We do not ask for income verification. We trust our nonprofit partners, who already know the families they serve and already have relationships built on trust. When Eagle Crest Recovery, Nicole’s House, Micah 6.8, or any of the other partner organizations we work with tells us a family needs care, we schedule the visit. That is the whole intake process.
We’ve had patients tell us they stopped going to job interviews because they were embarrassed to open their mouth. Patients who only ate soft food for years because chewing was too painful. One patient told our team he hadn’t let anyone take his photo in over a decade.
That is who was sitting in our chairs on April 10.
How Free Thursdays actually work
A common question we get is how we pull this off. The short answer is a team that stays late and a model that removes the overhead.
Free Thursdays are built into Mint Dental Care’s weekly operating rhythm. They are not a side project. Dr. McCord and his assistants and admin team run the clinical day. Partner organizations handle the patient coordination on their side. Mint Dental Care absorbs the chair time, the staff time, the supplies, the sterilization, and the overhead.
That is what makes the leverage so powerful. Last year, less than $70,000 in grants and donations supported more than $1 million in dental care delivered — because Mint Dental Care contributes the clinical capacity, the staff time, and the supplies. We call this the Founding Practice Partner model. In practice, Mint Dental Care contributes more than $100,000 per year in in-kind support, so every grant and donation goes further here than it would at a traditional nonprofit.
It is not glamorous. It is operatories getting flipped. Sterilization running for hours. Admin staff reconciling partner referrals. Assistants prepping trays. Coordination calls with Eagle Crest Recovery or Nicole’s House about who is coming and what they need. It is Dr. McCord and the team staying late.
Culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you do when it matters.
The partner network
Everything about Mint for More runs on partners. Not just financially, but operationally.
The nonprofits we work with are the ones on the ground who know the families. They know the grandmother raising three grandchildren on fixed income. They know the single father whose medical bills crushed any dental care budget. They know the recovering addict whose teeth are one of the biggest barriers to getting back to work. Those families do not trust a dental office they have never heard of. They do trust the organizations already walking with them.
That is why we built Mint for More to receive referrals only from partners. It is slower than open enrollment. It is also more effective. Every patient who walks through our door already has a support system on the outside.
Current partner organizations include Eagle Crest Recovery, Nicole’s House, Micah 6.8, and many more. The full list of our referral partners lives on our home page.
Where we are heading
Since 2016, we have provided more than $3.5 million in donated dental services to neighbors in Northwest Arkansas. (Mint for More itself was officially founded as a 501(c)(3) in 2022; the care has been happening longer.)
In 2025, we hit the original goal we set for ourselves: one million dollars of free care in a single year — three years ahead of schedule. The goal now is bigger. A standalone Mint for More clinic, open full-time, treating as many people in our community as we can reach who do not otherwise have access to care. March 13 got us closer. April 10 got us closer. Every Thursday in between gets us closer.
That pace only holds with help.
How to support the mission
Donate. Your gift goes further here. Last year, less than $70,000 in grants and donations supported more than $1 million in dental care delivered — because Mint Dental Care contributes the clinical infrastructure, the staff time, and the supplies.
Give to Mint for More
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Thanks for reading. The next big day is already on the calendar. More soon.
— The Mint for More Team
Bentonville, AR · A 501(c)(3) nonprofit · Powered by Mint Dental Care
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