Our History

In the spring of 2003, a proposal was presented to the Executive Board of the Tulsa County Dental Society to create an organization that would become a dental outreach for eastern Oklahoma. Three dentists, Dr. Gary Burnidge, Dr. Mike Kincaid and Dr. Steven Lusk partnered to create Eastern Oklahoma Donated Dental Services (EODDS).

The organization serves the needs of all applicants who qualify for donated care based on their physical and financial challenges. Individuals applying must meet set restrictions, including income level documented from Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and without any savings account, CDs, trust accounts, RIAs, or any other means of paying for dental care.

EODDS has built a solid foundation with a history of over 350 volunteer dentists providing donated dental services. Complete restorative dental care is provided to as many patients annually as possible. Our volunteer dentists agree to provide dental services to qualifying clients free of charge in the comfort of their own offices where great care is taken to preserve patient dignity and privacy, while EODDS pays for patient’s discounted laboratory costs of dental prosthetics such as crowns, bridges, dentures, and partials. Services provided to our patients consist of exams, x-rays, cleanings, fillings, root canals, extractions, crowns, bridges, partials, and dentures.

Providing this complete restorative dental service to clients in eastern Oklahoma would not be possible without our generous funding sources. Family foundations and trusts include: The George Kaiser Family Foundation, The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, The Maxine and Jack Zarrow Foundation, the Hardesty Family Foundation, the Chapman Foundation, Mervin Bovaird Foundation, the Ruth K.R. Nelson Trust, Herman Kaiser Trust, Sharna & Irvin Frank Foundation, the Leslie Alexander Foundation and Morningcrest Foundation all have provided EODDS significant funding for delivering donated dental services. Other significant sources (non-family organizations) who have given significant financial contributions include Delta Dental of Oklahoma Oral Health Foundation, Tulsa Area United Way, INCOG-Indian Nations Council of Governments, Deaconess Associations Foundation, and other grant sources. Without them, EODDS would not exist to serve challenged Oklahomans in need.