Because he had a vision -- along with unrelenting passion – nearly 9,000 impoverished patients in Kansas have received free dental care. Many of them traveled long distances – some on foot – to receive much-needed care and relieve debilitating pain.

Jon Tilton, DDS (’74), is this year’s Alumni Achievement Award winner for the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Dentistry. In 2003, he started the Kansas Mission of Mercy (KMOM) project, consisting of an annual two-day free dental clinic for indigent patients in Kansas. Initially events were held in Garden City and Kansas City. Later, Kansas events in Pittsburg and Salina were added.

Tilton was inspired to start a “Mission of Mercy” project when he attended the American Dental Association annual President’s conference in 2002 and learned of the Virginia Mission of Mercy project. He immediately became interested and volunteered at the event in Virginia to see how the clinic worked.

“I was touched by the giving, the caring, and the collective effort of an entire community to help adults and children in need,” Tilton said. “I knew I had to share the event with my Kansas colleagues.”

And the rest is history. Tilton’s dedicated care for dental patients throughout the state has won him recognition locally, regionally and nationally. But being in the spotlight hasn’t blinded him. Tilton will receive the Dental School Alumni Achievement Award at a formal event Oct. 27.

For Tilton, there is deep reward in seeing the smiling face of a child whose oral pain he has eased. Tilton’s initiative has helped provide more than $3.2 million dollars of dental care to the needy.

“Working with Jon at the Kansas Mission of Mercy events, I have seen his passion for service and social justice,” said Kevin J. Robertson, CAE, executive director of the Kansas Dental Association. “His actions clearly demonstrate his commitment to serving UMKC, dentistry and dental patients.”

Tilton began his private practice in Wichita in 1976. Since then, he has been active in the Kansas Dental Association and the American Dental Association. In 2003 he was named “Dentist of the Year” by the Kansas Dental Association, and in 2004 he received the “’Jiggs’ Nelson MD Quality of Life Award” for making a difference in the Wichita community. Tilton currently serves as a board member of the Kansas Foundation for the Dentally Handicapped. He is a charter member and past president of the Mid America Dental Study Group and a 2004 inductee into the American College of Dentists.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.  UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences, and urban affairs.

This information is available to people with speech or hearing impairments by calling Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice).