KEYRIS MANZANARES: People from all over Southwest Virginia travel to Wise County for the annual Mission of Mercy free dental clinic.

TRICIA COUNTS: It's important to us because we don't have dental care.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Tricia Counts, who lives near Haysi, traveled an hour to get her teeth cleaned.

TRICIA COUNTS: Just recently I got an estimate from a dentist local in the area, and they wanted $300 just to clean.

And I wouldn't pay that.

I couldn't pay that.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Besides money, Count says another challenge is the shortage of dentist options in the area.

TRICIA COUNTS: We had a very good dentist right in Haysi, but he retired.

So I just haven't been able to find a dentist I like since him.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: For the past 24 years, the Virginia Dental Association Foundation has been hosting the Mission of Mercy event.

The goal is to bring dental care into parts of Virginia that lack enough practitioners to serve the underserved and uninsured in Virginia, or those who rely on Medicaid and Medicare.

TARA QUINN: So we're in our 24th year this year.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: For Tara Quinn, executive director of VDAF, the mission is personal.

TARA QUINN: To see the extent of the suffering that comes from not being able to have oral health care, the pain, the impact on overall health, the impact on being able to apply for a job or keep a job, to be able to focus in school for children that are in pain.

I mean, it's so far reaching and I feel very grateful to be able to be a little tiny part of the solution.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: This year, Missions of Mercy has crossed a monumental threshold in providing $50 million of free dental care to the people of Virginia who need it the most.

To treat patients, VDAF partners with Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry students and faculty, as well as other dentists from the state who volunteer their time to help the people of Appalachia.

ELIZABETH REYNOLDS: We know that oral health impacts every aspect of our lives.

It impacts heart health.

It impacts diabetes and diabetes impacts it.

It impacts low birth weight babies.

Our periodontal health is so important, and we forget that.

People who can't live with healthy oral health don't have healthy overall health.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Dr. Elizabeth Reynolds traveled to the first Mission of Mercy event 24 years ago.

Now, she runs the triage, the first stop at the clinic.

ELIZABETH REYNOLDS: They come in and we do an oral cancer screening, which is of utmost importance.

And then we do an overall screening of head and neck, and then we do a screening of their teeth.

And sometimes people want their front tooth filled, but they may have abscesses in their back teeth that don't hurt right now.

So it's our job to educate patients and help them understand what is going to best serve them long-term.

People judge you without your teeth.

And so if you can take these folks, give them the confidence they need and help restore their smile, you can change their lives.

And we do that every day.

We do it here.

And I'll be honest, I think dentists do it every day in their own offices.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Reporting for VPM News, I'm Keyris Manzanares.