MADISON — “We see the whole person, we don’t just see their mouth.” That’s one thing that certainly stands out about Mercy Dental Missions, founded by Dr. Daniel Tataje.

Mercy Dental Missions started when Dr. Dan realized that his for-profit organization, Mercy Dental Group, wasn’t fully completing its mission.

He’d always seen the mission of his practices as being to “impact people’s lives using our talents,” dentistry being one of those talents.

But that mission was “incomplete, because we cannot impact all people, everyone — it’s only the people that can afford dentistry,” he said.

“So, when I was reflecting on this, I thought, well . . . to complete the circle, we have to start a non-profit organization that can serve people who can’t afford dentistry.”

Dental care isn’t just about having pretty teeth. When people go without dental care for significant amounts of time, especially if they don’t know how to take care of their teeth at home, it’s easy for serious infections to set in.

Those infections can damage teeth, cause pain, force diet changes, and put overall health at risk.

It’s also a heavy burden when a person feels like they can’t smile — it can impact their confidence, their sense of dignity, even their job prospects.

“People take for granted these things, right?” said Dr. Dan. “‘Oh yeah, your smile is fine,’ right? But it is such a big part of who you are, how you present yourself, your confidence, and all these things that are important.”

There are many people who can’t afford traditional dental care to restore their smile.

One in three people don’t have dental insurance. Many people without insurance also don’t qualify for state-sponsored care, making it easy for dental care to fall off the priority list, or even the possibility list.

Filling the need

“Our mission is to serve people in the gap,” said Krysta Wetzel, executive director of Mercy Dental Missions.

“The gap can look really different. The gap can be somebody at the bottom of life’s barrel, because just so many traumatic things have happened, and they just don’t have anything, they just cannot get by.”

On the other hand, “We serve entrepreneurs here. People who have put everything up to try and invest in something . . . they’ve gone out on their own, they have no insurance, they have no money. They know they should be taking care of their teeth, but they just can’t. And . . . we see them graduate out. They get a job, they get insurance, or they’re able to sell their product, and they’re like, ‘OK, now I can go back to my dentist.’”

Mercy Dental Missions fills the gap in a lot of ways. Their no-insurance clinic offers dental care for approximately 40 to 50 percent of traditional dental fees.

They also operate a free program through that clinic, allowing them to serve some of those who cannot afford even the reduced fees.

And they visit schools in the local community, helping educate students on dental health and diminishing fears of going to the dentist.

They also run the “Day of Mercy,” an event where completely free dental service is offered.

This event began as a partnership with the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison.

However, this year, Mercy Dental Missions is extending the invitation to the wider community.

On Friday, April 24, free dental care will be offered to any uninsured person who can’t afford it, on a first-come, first-served basis, starting at 7:30 a.m. at their clinic at 1709 Aberg Ave, Ste. A, Madison. Spanish translators will be available.

One of the elements that is essential to Mercy Dental’s operations is bilingual communication.

About 40 percent of patients have Spanish as their preferred language, and the office operates in both English and Spanish.

They have also welcomed patients who speak Polish, Russian, and many other languages. A language line helps with the languages that none of the employees speak.

Beyond numbers

Their service even extends beyond Madison. Mission trips were one of the things Dr. Dan was passionate about from the beginning.

“I am an immigrant. I am from Peru, and I have seen a lot of areas of poverty . . . so I always wanted to do something,” he said.

They are currently planning a mission to Lima, Peru, where they will partner with Casa Hogar, a Catholic organization founded by Servant of God Fr. Joseph Walijewski from the Diocese of La Crosse.

The necessity and beauty of this mission, though, don’t mean it was easy to take on. Dr. Dan had originally envisioned Mercy Dental Missions as simply the events: The Days of Mercy and the mission trips.

Then, Affordable Dental Care, a Christian non-profit clinic that had served this need in the area for years, came to him in a crisis.

It had changed locations in an effort to serve more people, but the transition, along with other factors, had strained finances. It was in danger of closing.

It was a risky endeavor. Wetzel and Dr. Dan initially hesitated, but the Holy Spirit nudged them.

Dr. Dan was thinking about the parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30) and the possibility of saving the clinic.

“It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to cost a lot of money. It’s not convenient, right? But what am I going to tell God, ‘Oh, it wasn’t convenient, I’m sorry’? I was willing to bury the talent, like the servant who did. And no, we can use our talents and multiply this for God . . . I called Krysta . . . and Krysta could have said no and quit, but she said yes, and she put all her heart in this, and that’s why things are working the way they are.”

Wetzel was quick to extend the credit to the rest of the team, saying, “[There are] a lot of people putting their heart into it.”

One of the things Dr. Dan is grateful for is the open Christianity that was already woven into the clinic’s history.

“The original clinic here was founded on Christian values . . . We spread love, the love of Christ, to our patients in every opportunity we have . . . so we were relying on that.”

That reliance has already started bearing fruit — last year the clinic had more than 3,300 patient visits, including 670 emergency appointments.

Mercy Dental Missions offers the same procedures, equipment, and personalized concern as the for-profit clinics in Mercy Dental Group.

They treat every patient with respect and compassion, alleviating fears, helping patients develop treatment plans, and empowering them to form good oral hygiene habits.

And they get to see the smiles that result from that.

“We feel super blessed, too,” said Wetzel, “because we’re not special people, we’re normal people, right? But we get the honor to do this for the community.”

They are expanding the Day of Mercy this year to allow more people to be served and come away with a healthy smile.