Our Dentists Give Back to the Florence Community
Dr. Joe Griffin and the other doctors at Advanced Dental Center strongly believe in giving back to the community. Our team serves the Florence community in many ways, and we hope you’ll join us.

We've had Dentists From The Heart. We sponsor two days of that. We participate with dental access day. They're called DAD days out here. Really proud of Dr. Hess; he goes over to Mercy Clinic. We've personally donated a bunch of equipment over there for these fine people. We'd like to get more involved with the veterans, and that's our next initiative. Recently right now I'm a trustee at a local college. I sit on the board of trustees at Florence-Darlington Tech, and I am the rising chairman of that college.
I'm looking forward to that, and we're aggressively trying to start a brand new dental assisting program, not only to benefit Advanced Dental Center but to help upgrade all the practices in the PD. You really can't have a great dental practice unless you have a great team around you. There's just no way to do that. You have to have confident people you're comfortable being around. They're well-educated. That's what we want to bring, not only Advanced Dental Center, but the other dental practices here in the town in the PD.
Dr. Joe Griffin is a recipient of the Palmetto Patriot award, which is given by South Carolina’s lieutenant governor in recognition of commitment to community service. Dr. Griffin is also a trustee and board member at Florence-Darlington Technical College as well as a society member and Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club of Florence. He serves as a consultant for NCGS, Inc., a medical research and drug approval corporation based out of South Carolina.
Dr. John Hess and other members of the Advanced Dental Center team are regular volunteers at Mercy Medicine Free Clinic, which provides free dental care to the indigent and working poor. They’ve also provided care through the Dental Lifeline Network of South Carolina and the South Carolina Dental Association’s Dental Access Days. Our entire team has helped assemble hurricane hygiene kits for victims of recent hurricanes.
Our team wants to help you begin your new career as a dental assistant. We have started a dental assistant apprentice program that offers on-the-job training! These positions are open to the public, and we have scholarships available. This is our way of recruiting, training, and hiring from within our community, and we hope it will help us grow into the future. Contact our office to fill out an application.
Other organizations we support through volunteer efforts and/or monetary contributions, both locally and beyond, include:
- House of the Hope of the Pee Dee
- Lighthouse Ministries
- Samaritan’s Purse
- Help 4 Kids Florence
- Harvest Hope Food Bank
- Boy Scouts of America Pee Dee Area Council
- Special Olympics
- South Florence High Baseball
- Friends of Florence County Library
- Helping Florence Flourish
- The Orlando Ballet
- SC Sheriffs’ Association
- Fraternal Order of Police
- The Salvation Army
Our team of dentists also includes three military veterans who have proudly served our country, while several of our staff have served or are currently serving in the Reserves. To visit a dental team who cares about the Florence community, call Advanced Dental Center at 843-627-4076 .