Artistic Dental Patient Makes a Difference in Dentistry

Dr. Dougherty originally met Dr. Ken Snyder more than 15 years ago at the St. Vincent de Paul dental clinic. It didn’t take long before the two dentist discovered their shared interests and they began playing volleyball, basketball and hiking together on weekends. Dr. D. describes Dr. Snyder as a family man and real stand-up guy. He also appreciates his great sense of humor and explained that he trains dentists on how to integrate comedy into patient care. Dr. Dougherty continues to volunteer his time and services with St. Vincent de Paul and says, “Anytime Dr. Snyder calls for help with a patient, my answer is yes.”

Dr. Ken Snyder has been a patient at Artistic Dental for 12 years. More importantly, Dr. Snyder is the Dental Director at St. Vincent De Paul’s dental clinic, which provides low-income and uninsured adults and children with comprehensive dental care. After 17 years in private practice, Dr. Snyder began running the clinic in 2001. Since that time he and his army of dedicated volunteers (including Dr. Dougherty) have helped provide dental care to as many as 700 patients a month. Dr. Snyder’s work and dedication was recently recognized when the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was awarded the Henry Schein Cares Medal, honoring an organization that demonstrates excellence in expanding access to oral health care for people in need. In October 2015 the organization was also recognized by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
We were fortunate to recently speak with Dr. Snyder about his career in dentistry, the SVdP dental clinic and their recent honors:

What do these awards mean to you and to St. Vincent de Paul?

It means quite a bit. The Henry Schein award  looked at more than 70 clinics throughout the country before narrowing it down to three. The finalists were invited to Dallas, where there was about 2,500 people from the dental industry in attendance. All three finalist received $10,000 credit for supplies from Henry Schein, the largest distributor of dental supplies. As the winner we also received a check for $15,000, which is very beneficial.

The recognition from American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry was also a big honor. The AAPD looked at clinics across the country and narrowed to two. When we went to the event in Chicago last October, we learned that the organization awarded both finalists a grant of $75,000 for 5 years.

We survive solely on grants and donations, so these awards are not only a tremendous honor recognizing the work we do as an organization, it will help us to continue to do the work we do.

What do you love most about working in dentistry?

Getting to help people is the biggest reward. We’ve put 400 children through braces, more than any other in the country. At the clinic we are changing people’s lives every day. I am fortunate to work with an incredible team of people, and I like to say, “I’m just the band leader of a world class band.”

What services do you offer at the SVdP dental clinic?

Thanks to the help of volunteer dental professionals and dental students, we are able to provide general care, oral surgery, treatment plans, orthodontia and implants. We have a small staff including myself, one other dentist and a few dental assistants  – otherwise everything we provide is through our volunteers – like Dr. John.
How did you come to be a patient at Artistic Dental?

Dr. John volunteered with us at the clinic early on, and while he was there we became good friends. When my dentist retired, I decided to go to Artistic Dental and have been a patient there ever since.

How can others get involved or volunteer at the SVdP dental clinic?

We are always looking for volunteers. If you are not in dentistry, you can help in our office. We also love having high school and college kids volunteer, especially if they are interested in exploring a career in dentistry. We’ve also started a dental assistant training program for women living in shelters to help them develop a career. Outside of volunteering, monetary donations are always helpful, and we can also use dental equipment.