Mission:

About

MISSION:

To relieve dental pain and suffering while preserving oral health through preventative education and comprehensive treatment for those with no other access to dental care.

SLDDS’ primary goal is to make quality preventative and restorative dental treatment accessible to our community’s underserved. Conveniently located in Salt Lake City’s Glendale community, SLDDS is open 5 days a week and treats an average of 42 patients per day. The clinic simultaneously runs two programs: the Donated Dental Program providing free services to individuals at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level and the Discounted Dental Program providing discounted services to individuals at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Patients receive quality, comprehensive dental care comparable to what one would expect from a private dental office. Visit Services Page for more information.

About Us – Salt Lake Donated Dental Services

History
Executive Team
Board of Directors
Financials & Stats

History

In 1990 Salt Lake City dentist, Dr. Ralph Montgomery, recognized access to oral health care for the disadvantaged within our community was nearly nonexistent. Many of the poorest and most destitute were forced to go without needed dental care. Often restorable teeth were extracted because there were simply no other options available. As a result, Dr. Montgomery founded Salt Lake Donated Dental Services (SLDDS). He believed that a healthy smile should not be limited to those with financial means and that with community commitment SLDDS’ Donated Dental Program can provide sorely needed quality dental care to Utah’s homeless and extremely low-income individuals (at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level) at no cost.

SLDDS implemented the Discounted Dental Program in 2009. Board members and employees realized many families just above the poverty level were also struggling to receive dental care. These individuals often known as the ‘working poor’ rarely held dental insurance and could simply not afford to pay full price for dental care. The Discounted Dental Program allows individuals at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level to pay a discounted rate for dental care.The Discounted Dental Program not only pays for itself, but supplements the Donated Dental Program, allowing more community funds to support direct patient care instead of overhead costs.

Executive Team

Dr. Ralph B Montgomery founded Salt Lake Donated Dental Services (SLDDS) in 1990 and is a member of the Board of Directors and Chair Emeritus. He founded the clinic on a firm belief that a healthy smile should not be limited to only those with financial means. Dr. Montgomery graduated with his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Washington University School of Dentistry in 1954. He practiced dentistry for 36 years in Murray, Utah and served with the Clinical Research Associates of Provo, Utah where he participated for 21 years.

Dr. Montgomery has also served on the Utah Dental Board of Examiners and the Northwest Board of Examiners as well as lectured domestically and internationally to dental societies and dental schools on dental techniques and how to organize volunteer dental services. In the early nineties, Dr. Montgomery volunteered to go to a Vietnam Refugee Camp on the island of Palawan in the South Pacific. Finding that the residents of Palawan were much worse off than the refugees, Dr. Montgomery returned home and raised money to build a mobile dental clinic complete with an X-ray machine and generator. With the help of Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, he was able to get the U.S. Air Force to fly the mobile clinic to Palawan. Through Rotary Clubs, in many states, volunteer dentists were recruited to go to Palawan for 30 days at a time to treat the Palawan people.

Today, this mobile dental clinic is still in use. Prior to taking the mobile dental clinic to Palawan, Dr. Montgomery brought it to 400 South and 400 West in downtown Salt Lake City, where meals were provided for the homeless. At one of those meals he announced that free dental care was available for the next week. There were so many individuals seeking care that Dr. Montgomery created Salt Lake Donated Dental Services (SLDDS), an organization that provides free quality, comprehensive dental care for the homeless and poor. The clinic has had several homes since its inception and is now located in the heart of the Glendale community in the beautiful Sorenson Unity Center, at 900 West and 1300 South.

Dr. Ralph B. Montgomery, Founder, Chair Emeritus (1990)

Dr. Melvin Malmstrom has acted as SLDDS’ Board Chair since 2004. He has served on the board since 2002 and is currently the Chairman of SLDDS’ Clinical Committee. Dr. Malmstrom has his Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Utah and graduated with his Doctor of Dental Surgery from University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School Dentistry. He practiced dentistry for 15 years in West Jordan, Utah and acted as President of the Salt Lake District Dental Society in 2002. Dr. Malmstrom now pursues his interests in traveling, mathematics, and languages.

Dr. Melvin Malmstrom, Board Chair (2002)

Sasha Harvey has served as a Treasurer on the SLDDS board of directors for 2 years before joining the team in the Executive Director capacity in early 2019. Ms. Harvey is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations of the clinic, ensuring financial stability and compliance of SLDDS programs, governing the board, and serving as the primary spokesperson to the general public. Prior to working for SLDDS, Ms. Harvey oversaw the compliance and administration of public and private welfare and retirement plans. Ms. Harvey attended St. Petersburg State University School of International Relations and received her degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Utah.

Sasha Harvey, Executive Director (2019)

Board of Directors

Dr. Melvin Malmstrom (2002)

Retired Dentist

Dr. Malmstrom has served on the SLDDS Board since 2002 and acted as Board Chair since 2004. He graduated with his Doctor of Dental Surgery from University of the Pacific. He practiced dentistry for 15 years in West Jordan, Utah and acted as President of the Salt Lake District Dental Society in 2002. Dr. Malmstrom now pursues his interests in traveling, mathematics, and languages.

Nalyn R. Esplin (2006)

Office Manager, Dr. Steve Duke

Nalyn Ricks Esplin joined the SLDDS Board in 2006. Nalyn is a retired Dental Business Manager. Currently, she is spending her time doing dental consulting, travelling, and studying to be a life/relationship coach. Nalyn is married to Steven Esplin; they have 3 daughters and live in Plano, TX.

Carol Coulter, Secretary (2007)

Retired Marketing Consultant, Maxcomm, Inc.

Carol Coulter has been serving on the SLDDS board since 2007. Carol worked for over 25 years in the training and development industry—designing, presenting and marketing workshops for business executives. In addition to working with SLDDS, she is actively engaged as a volunteer, board member and grant writer for Assistance League of Salt Lake City. Carol and her husband Dave are retired living in Salt Lake City. They have two children and five grandchildren and travel frequently.

Craig Wilson (2008)

Business Professor, LDS Business College

Craig Wilson, joined the SLDDC Board in 2008. Craig is a retired businessman and teacher. He currently is an adjunct professor at BYU in Provo and is involved with a number of different non-profit boards in the Salt Lake area. Craig is married to the former Cari Nydegger; they have five children and live in Holladay, UT.

R. Ted Stagg, Treasurer (2012)

Retired Certified Public Accountant, Stagg & Associates

Ted Stagg is a retired Certified Public Accountant who provided health care consulting services to hospitals, skilled nursing facility chains, home health agencies and other health- care providers throughout the western United States. As part of his accounting/consulting practice, Ted started a separate company which provides Guardian, Conservatorship, and other types of health-care/financial services to seniors. Since retiring, Ted has been a volunteer accounting Instructor at Brigham Young University – Hawaii. Ted has been a member of the Salt Lake Donated Dental Board since 2012 and currently is serving as treasurer.

Mitch Viele (2018)

Contract Manage, Zions Bank Corp

Mitch Velie is corporate counsel at DigiCert, Inc., a premier provider of high-assurance digital certificates, including trusted SSL, private, managed PKI deployments, and device certificates for the emerging IoT market. Mitch’s work focuses on customer-facing contracts in EMEA and emerging markets. Mitch has a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Boston University.

Dr. Burke Soffe (2018)

Dentist & Director of Clinical Education, Roseman University

Dr. Burke Soffe joined the SLDDS Board in 2018. Dr. Soffe is a general dentist and educator. He is a full-time faculty member at Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine and works at the SLDDS clinic one day a week. He is married to Lauren Soffe; they have three children and live in Cottonwood Heights, UT.

Stephanie Jensen (2019), Freelancer

Freelancer

Stephanie Jensen joined the board of directors for Salt Lake Donated Dental Services (SLDDS) in 2019. She graduated from Westminster College with degrees in English and Art, and was the executive director for SLDDS from 2003-2018. Stephanie has experience managing private dental practices (1992-1997), working internationally with grassroots community projects for the Peace Corps in Turkmenistan (1999-2001), and has developed and implemented HIPAA compliance plans for a local private insurance company (2002-2003). Stephanie and her family live in Chicago, Illinois where she does freelance work.

Lisa Harris (2019)

Independent Certified Dentrix Trainer

Lisa Harris is a Salt Lake native, she joined the SLDDC board in 2019. Lisa is a Dentrix Dental software trainer which takes her all over the country teaching dental offices to be more efficient and productive. She is interested in genealogy and is pursuing a degree in family history. Lisa and her husband Dave have 5 children and 8 grandchildren, a brown spotted dog and a pet black widow spider.

Carol Jent (2019)

Clinical Affairs, Ultradent Products, Inc.

Carol Jent is a dental hygiene graduate of the University of Alaska and later obtained an additional degree in Communications with an emphasis in healthcare from the University of Utah. She works for Ultradent Products, Inc. and is currently part of the Clinical Affairs Department which is involved in research, product development, and education. In her spare time, Carol’s favorite things include bicycling, reading, cooking, and exploring the world. Her favorite kinds of travel are humanitarian trips where she can use her dental hygiene education to give back.

Financials & Stats

CLICK to view Financial Reports.