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By Stacie Crozier

Clinton, Ark.—A brand new dental office is going up in this small Arkansas town, and Dr. Donald Warren and his son, Dr. Darryl Warren, will be able to serve their patients with the latest dental office technology starting in August.

It's a far cry from the destruction they faced in their professional life Feb. 5, when a tornado leveled their office and left three dental assistants injured.

	Debris: The Warrens' tomography and panoramic machines lay broken amid the ruins of the office.

Though Dr. Don lost his dental office, his golf pro shop and the building that housed the chiropractic office of his son, David, he hasn't lost his sense of humor.

"I haven't had an emotionally down day since it happened," he said. "I used to be the coroner here so I guess I know how to distance myself from tragedy. We lost stuff, but you can replace stuff. We're OK. We're still alive. The support from the people around us has been great."

Dr. Darryl admires his dad's courage and positive attitude.

"The tornado got everything Dad owned," he said. "But overall, he's in a good mood. He's been working for more than 35 years and he lost everything. It was hard on me, and I've only practiced for three years. I was just getting my practice up and running good. But we've got to stay optimistic. The new office will be state of the art and we're looking to the future."

The Warrens were seeing 50 to 60 patients a day before the tornado; since then, they see about 10 a week, thanks to the generosity of a colleague who lets them treat their emergency patients in his office on his days off and during his lunch hours.

"We had been considering updating the dental office; getting digital radiography," said Dr. Don. "This is a wonderful opportunity to make improvements and advances."

"Dad said it was all my fault," added Dr. Darryl. "I'd been trying to push digital on Dad before the tornado. I think there could have been an easier way to make that happen!"

Three dental assistants and one assistant's daughter were in the office when the tornado hit, and all were injured when the force carried them away with the building. Amanda Krisell had a fractured sternum, abrasions and bruises and her daughter Madison had a lump and a scratch on her head. Sondra Abbott had three broken ribs, a punctured lung, two broken vertebra, cuts, bruises and newsprint embedded in her skin. Brenda Parker had a severe scalp laceration, cuts, a concussion and broken ribs.

"Everyone is healing nicely, but the sound of thunder still makes them worry," said Dr. Don.

"It had been an ordinary day," said Dr. Darryl. "I finished work, headed home and turned on the news. I saw there was a storm coming and I called the ladies at the office to warn them. Then the TV announcer said, 'If you live in Clinton, you'd better take cover.'"

Dr. Darryl's wife Meagin, a pharmacist at Clinton Drug Store, was still at work. She was 8-1/2 months pregnant and he was concerned for her safety, he said.

"The tornado shook my house and it was a quarter of a mile away," he said. "Meagin was even closer to its path, and I couldn't reach her on the phone, so I got in my truck and headed for the pharmacy." He was also concerned because he couldn't reach his parents or the office staff by phone.

Dr. Darryl reached his wife, who was safe. He later learned his parents were OK, but that the dental assistants had been rushed to the hospital. So he headed for the hospital to check on them, and ended up staying for six hours to help the overwhelmed emergency room staff with triage after the disaster.

The winter was rocky for Clinton residents, in general, Dr. Don added, as they dealt with not only the tornado, but also two episodes of flooding rains, a destructive hailstorm, an electrical storm that knocked out power and a windstorm.

Since 1982, when Dr. Don's office was flooded with two feet of water, he says he's been a regular contributor to the ADA Foundation Disaster Assistance Grant Program.

"That was really a godsend then, when my losses weren't covered by insurance," said Dr. Don. "And it was so wonderful for my son and I to receive assistance again this time," he added. "This time I probably lost more than $1 million above what I can recover through insurance. The grants tided us through a rough period."

Dr. Darryl and his wife are now the proud parents of a healthy baby boy and the destruction left by the tornado is slowly being replaced by the new dental office building.

"I am getting to spend a lot more time with my son, now that I'm not working much, and that's been good," he said. "We were able to salvage a lot of our instruments after the tornado. Since I'm an associate in Dad's practice, I don't really make bonus money without seeing patients and with a new baby, that's scary. But the grant from the ADA Foundation really helped out when I needed help."

(For more information about the ADA Foundation Disaster Assistance Grant Program, log on to www.ada.org/ada/adaf/grants/index.asp.)

"Other than being able to produce only about 20 percent of our normal production, we are doing fine," said Dr. Don. "We are excited about getting back to practice as soon as we can."