By Mary Heinrich
Assistant Editor
The Shinnston News and Harrison County Journal, in conjunction with North Central West Virginia Airport, has named Dr. Robert Martino Business Owner of the Month.
As Dr. Robert Martino has grown his businesses and accolades, he’s also made it his life’s work to provide excellent dental care to the people of West Virginia. And as he’s achieved success, he also hasn’t forgotten to give back through charity projects.
For these reasons and more, the Shinnston News & Harrison County Journal has chosen Dr. Robert Martino as this month’s business owner of the month.
Martino was born in Clarksburg and is a product of West Virginia University School of Dentistry. After graduating from the program, Dr. Martino began practicing dentistry in North Central West Virginia with offices in Buckhannon and Bridgeport.
As the CEO of Wilmar Management Corporation, Martino now owns and operates seven dental offices, OraCare, and is the founder and CEO of EASW, an aeronautics company located in Bridgeport.
In 2013, Dr. Martino founded Freedom Day USA, a national thank-you movement that has given over $35 million in free services to active military, veterans, and their immediate family members, according to press materials. He has also participated in many health screenings and student instruction.
Martino is also the CEO of OraCare, a West Virginia-based company. OraCare is a dental rinse created as an alternative to chlorhexidine, the mouth rinse used in many dental practices.
Martino’s OraCare has met with unexpected accolades. In December, OraCare was named best in class by Cellerant, a dental consulting firm.
“We are beyond honored to have been chosen for dentistry’s most prestigious award,” stated Martino.
Martino, who Leah Wray, Program Manager for OraCare, called “generous and exciting because he always has innovative ideas going on,” has found yet another way to give back to his community.
His most recent charitable movement, “OraCare Cares,” has already donated OraCare’s mouth rinse to thousands of cancer patients across the country to help with the oral side effects of treatment.
OraCare was created to be used for everyday dental care. It was originally designed to deal with problems such as bad breath, dry mouth, bleeding gums, etc.
“We invented OraCare to be used by dental professionals as a better option than what has traditionally been available to them,” Martino said. “We never thought of it for use with cancer care, but we kept getting these wonderful testimonials from patients saying they couldn’t have made it through their treatments without OraCare. We knew we had something special and wanted to help more of these patients, so we came up with the OraCare Cares Program.”
No one expected OraCare to have the effects it has had for cancer patients going through chemo and radiation. The chlorine dioxide used in OraCare kills oral bacteria, viruses, fungi, and breaks down biofilm (dental plaque) while alleviating the dry mouth and sores often caused by cancer treatment.
The OraCare Cares Program is about to help cancer patients in an even bigger way. The program, called Your Order, Their Relief will kick off this World Cancer Day, Feb. 4.
“For every order placed, we will send a free set of OraCare to a patient suffering from the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation,” according to Dr. Martino.
OraCare can only be purchased by dental offices. If you would like to help with donations, or if you are a cancer patient who finds yourself in need, please contact your dentist.
