Welcome to Smile Clinic

I hope our encounter can be a blessing...

Photo courtesy/Liu Yiyin

When Dr. Grace (Dr. Liu Yiyin) walked into this dental clinic for sale, she was shocked by the sight in front of her. "I have never seen such a special clinic before!" Facing the 5,000 square feet The first thing that comes into view in the clinic is a huge wall, which looks like an aquarium mural. Hippos, dolphins, corals, aquatic plants and other marine creatures swim on the aqua-blue wall. Turning around, Dr. Grace met the giraffe. The giraffe was standing next to the registration counter, but this counter looked like a bar counter. The waiting room is stocked with a variety of electric toys and is flanked by leather couches.

This pediatric dental clinic is located in Smyrna, Delaware, USA. It used to be a low-income residential area, but recently many large restaurants and shops have moved in, and new houses are constantly being built. Dr. Grace knew that 90% of the people who opened here were children from low-income families, and they all relied on the state government's Medicaid subsidy for dental care. Does she have the financial resources and ability to run such a big place?

The seller is also a dentist. He explained the patient population and details of the clinic to Dr. Grace. The more Dr. Grace listened, the more impossible it became. After saying "No" for ten minutes, he looked up and saw the words hanging on the wall - " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Then, Dr. Grace said: "Okay! Then please teach me how to do it!"

"The establishment of Smile Clinic is truly a miracle! From the initial purchase price to the loan, it was almost an impossible task, but God made the impossible possible. I witness miracles every day. Including this group of lovely colleagues, from From scratch, they are a lovely team formed by me meeting them accidentally.”

At first she just wanted to open a children's dental clinic, but she didn't expect that now the staff and young patients in the clinic would be the target of her missionary work. This is an unexpected ministry that Dr. Grace has gradually taken shape, which is closely related to her English name Grace. It coincides with each other, it’s “grace”!

▲Dr. Grace and the cute smile of the giraffe at the door.

grace team

The vision of the "Grace Team" is to "be a blessing to everyone who we encounter." Dr. Grace said: "I emphasized to the team members that we hope that we can be a blessing to everyone who we encounter. A way of blessing. It is necessary to provide good dental care. This is the basis of dental clinics, but how can we be different? I hope that our encounter can become a blessing in their lives, not just for the little patients who come to see them. , we also want to be a blessing to parents. The patients in the clinic live in low-income areas and live very hard lives. We hope that we can inspire them and that the clinic can become the light and salt of this community."

The living and growing environment of these young patients may not give them a good vision for life, and they lack good role models and positive influences in their lives. When a young patient steps into the Smile Clinic, from registration, registration, consultation to the end, everyone on the grace team treats them with love. We hope that the young patient will see positive responses in the clinic, and experience gentleness, joy, and patience from the medical team. Wait for good character and gradually change their vision of life in small ways.

Coincidence is God's arrangement

The clinic I entered by chance out of curiosity has turned into a missionary field. Dr. Grace said: "When I first opened the clinic, I worked five days a week and saw many young patients every day. I was very touched every day. I have served in the children's ministry of the church for a long time, and it turned out that God was equipping me for the clinic."

Not only that, God once brought her from a high-end dental cosmetic business to a low point, leaving her in debt, unemployed, and unable to find a job. She had to go to a government Medicaid clinic to provide dental care for homeless people. "The experience of treating homeless people has given me empathy and understanding for people who live in poverty. The patients' lives are very difficult, but they are always grateful. Many times, their stories move me to tears. I I often help them with their teeth while crying! I originally thought I was helping them, but because of their sharing, I received blessings from God.” Because of this experience, God sowed the seeds of the medical ministry for the poor. In her heart.

After Dr. Grace bought the "Smile Clinic", she maintained the original "aquarium + zoo + amusement area" style of the clinic, and also brought the "prayer box" that was originally placed indoors to the door. From then on, the prayer box became The communication channel between Grace team and patients and parents. Notes such as "Please God keep my dad from being imprisoned", "Let our house not be raided", "Let's pray for the Smile Clinic" became the motivation for intercession and mutual encouragement during the morning express time. Among the team members who did not have the habit of reading the Bible and praying, they began to establish a morning routine and pray for patients during consultations. This ministry becomes a two-way blessing passed down to each other.

▲Smile Clinic is a very healing working environment.

Build each other up and receive blessings from God

Smile Clinic takes care of about 60 children every day, and the patient flow rate is very fast. From the moment you enter the hospital to the end, the medical procedures are compact and require a super close tacit understanding of the team to ensure seamless integration. In addition to the doctors’ medical skills being good and fast, the equipment must also be in place. A flat-screen TV is installed on the ceiling of each medical room in the Smile Clinic, allowing young patients to temporarily forget that the doctor is repairing their teeth and watch TV with their mouths open. Because no matter how good the dentist is, there is nothing he can do for a small patient who cannot open his mouth or can bite.

Creativity is also required. Members of the Grace team often wear crowns and dress up as fairies to help young patients let go of their worries about “seeing a doctor.” The decoration of the waiting room allows mothers to wait with peace of mind and get some rest in a short period of time. One day, a little girl was sitting on the clinic chair and crying non-stop. The dentist who was treating the patient tried all kinds of techniques but could not make her stop crying. At this time, the power suddenly went out in the clinic, and everything went dark. The little girl's cry was loud and clear. Then stop. Dr. Grace quickly opened her iPhone and swung it from side to side, "The party is about to begin! Please open your mouth!" During the short period of time when the little girl opened her mouth to start the party, the assistant used a flashlight to shine on the teeth and asked another dentist to Clean your teeth quickly.

In addition to equipment and creativity, the most important thing is the unity and tacit understanding of the team, and these two factors need to start with a heart-to-heart comparison. "When we first opened our business, we worked five days a week and worked late every day. We are all working women with families. Working too late would affect our families, so we shortened our working hours and ended the consultation time at four o'clock. This means that staff, patients or parents can go home earlier and enjoy family time. Although the working hours are shortened, the salary is not reduced, but the salary is increased because the workload is reduced. "

Of course, how about shortening working hours, especially not seeing a doctor after school or get off work hours, and pushing away the prime time to make money? Dr. Grace not only explained to employees, but also reminded parents that family time is very important and growing up with children is a precious gift from God. The clinic will also arrange special time for children who need to deal with multiple cavities urgently, so that parents can fill all the cavities at once within a short consultation time.

workers before work

In order to let employees understand the ministry and vision, Dr. Grace makes Thursday a "team building day" for employees. There is no medical consultation, but only classes and training for employees on various job-related knowledge. In the beginning, Dr. Grace taught classes by herself, including new knowledge on dental care, time management, customer service, etc. Now she also hires experts to teach personal finance, psychology courses, etc. Through various educational courses on Thursday, the team not only increased their knowledge in various fields, but also understood each other through discussions and analysis, cultivated tacit understanding, and found good friends on the road of faith.

There was once a mother who got angry and cursed after waiting for more than ten minutes, and the staff were at a loss. Dr. Grace immediately came forward: "I'm very sorry that we kept you waiting. I understand that you must be very angry..." Before she could finish her words, the angry mother said: "I am a pregnant woman..." Everyone immediately moved the chairs , pouring water, "I am a nurse in the emergency room, and my patient died of illness last night!" The mother burst into tears when she said this.

"This mother is in an extremely stressful work environment and just wants us to fix her child's teeth quickly so she can go home and rest. This is what she expects from our clinic. Every emotional outburst, There is a story behind it, so we need to use dialogue to restore the situation behind it, so that we can know what the patient’s expectations are, so that we can convey our empathy in a heart-to-heart manner.”

This example is a living teaching material. It was brought up for discussion during Thursday's construction meeting. Through this example, employees shared and analyzed their own stories after emotional outbursts. The discussions on the construction day were filled with laughter and tears. Not only did these employees learn skills that are beneficial to their work, but they can also apply them in their lives to build better family relationships.

Isabeth drives an hour from Pennsylvania to work at the clinic every day. She used to be a chef for Donald Trump, one of the current Republican presidential candidates, but she saw that the clinic was looking for an administrator who could speak Spanish. The clerk drove here to apply, saying he just wanted to stay away from his past working environment. Although her superb cooking skills are not used at Smile Clinic, she enjoys it and says, "This is a happy and healing working environment!"

The Smile Clinic not only allows children to have healthy teeth and cute smiles, but also allows people they meet to be healed by God's love and smile with joy from the heart.

Challenges and prospects

Since its opening in July 2015, Smile Clinic has entered the proficiency stage from the trial period. Currently, the team has a total of twelve people, including two dentists, two dental hygienists and administrative staff, and the consultation time is very tight. Low-income families do not pay attention to children's dental care, and parents have difficulty scheduling time to take their children to have their children's teeth cleaned and filled because of their work schedules. It is common for young patients to come to have ten cavities filled at a time. For the sake of parents’ time, health care and medical treatment must be done at once. "The biggest challenge is that it's hard to find a dentist who is good, quick and patient with children."

Dr. Grace also likes to have heart-to-heart chats with parents during consultations, but this also delays the scheduled registration time. A well-coordinated assistant will say: "Dr. Grace, velocity! Dr. Grace, velocity!" This is a gentle reminder to the doctor that he should not forget speed when talking.

Thursday’s construction course has already left the clinic and is taking action outside! The team plans to cooperate with schools or organizations in the community to share dental care and character education everywhere. Several women in the team went to Zumba (Latin aerobic dance) together, and Dr. Grace was preparing to take the exam for a teaching license, specializing in teaching children to dance Zumba. The Smile Clinic comes with a large dance studio, which will come in handy now!

"I hope that the vision and ministry of the Smile Clinic can be expanded, not only in the Smyrna community, but also in other low-income communities, where the Smile Clinic can become the local light and salt." Smyrna's clinic is a model of community medical mission, with After learning the experience of the first family, Dr. Grace already had the prototype of expansion in mind.

In February 2016, at a dental medical seminar, Dr. Grace met many foreign doctors who came to the United States to study dental courses. Dr. Grace thought about the hard time when she and her family immigrated to the United States from Taiwan. Fortunately, she met many kind-hearted people. Help them when they need it most. Perhaps, this seemingly chance encounter is God paving the way for the next Smile Clinic.

Aren't you afraid of difficulties? "This is not my ministry, it is God's ministry." After all, I can do all things if I look up and rely on Him who gives me strength!

Employee Sharing

What sets the Grace Team apart:
What makes this office different?

Patricia Wilson: "Smile Clinic is based on Christian faith and aims to be a blessing to everyone."
Danielle Tateum: "The clinic has a very family atmosphere and makes me feel like a part of the family rather than an employee."
Anna Foraker: "When I couldn't find a nanny or a helper, the clinic allowed me to bring my children to work. Coming to work felt like going to church."
Isabeth Roush: “I would rather drive an hour to a work environment that makes me happy than work in a place that is close by and makes me miserable. Working at Smile Clinic has changed my perspective on life and has been a blessing. Being here Not just working for yourself, but working to be a blessing to the community.”
Lynette Carey: "This is the first time in my life that I have worked in a team with the same goals. Working with Grace is fun, relaxing and yet able to achieve outstanding goals."

What have you learned?
What did you learn?

Jasmine Hilliard: "Not knowing means not knowing! It's hard for us to understand the stories behind people. May our daily encounters become blessings."
Anna Foraker: "Confidence: I have gained confidence since working here."
Valerie Mancilla: "The rainbow always appears after the rain! Facing difficulties with a positive attitude can also help others face their prospects positively."
Kara McQueen: "Expresses my ideas effectively. We have a great time working together." Lynette Carey: "With God, all things are possible!"

受訪者小檔案 Dr.Grace Liu：劉怡吟醫師，十四歲從臺灣移民到美國紐約。紐約大學牙醫系畢業後與從賓州大學牙醫系畢業的Dr. Lewis（尤瑞倫）結婚，目前定居於德拉瓦州。Dr. Grace除了是微笑診所的負責人，也是位在家教育的媽媽老師。Dr. Grace & Dr. Lewis 育有一兒（Ethan）一女（Katie），夫婿尤醫師也是本協會的董事。