A St. Albert dental clinic is offering everything from free cleanings to root canals to those who otherwise can’t afford a trip to the dentist.
Frank Neves, a dentist and the owner of Bright Dental, is putting on his second annual dental compassion day Aug. 18.
“Last year I think we did close to $15,000 in work,” he said. About 30 to 40 people came to visit Neves and two other dentists who donated their time. This year a fourth dentist is joining the fray.
“Hopefully we can help out a few more people than we did last year,” he said.
Neves and his staff came up with the idea after tossing around ways to help the community. They were already helping out some young hockey players with free mouthguards.
“We wanted to do something more comprehensive. Patients would come in and either they’d need a lot more cleaning than the insurance has or they only have a little bit of money to fix one tooth,” Neves said.
While they won’t be screening patients for financial need, Neves is hoping those who can afford dentistry won’t be showing up to the clinic that day.
Last year, many who attended the day were single mothers who can’t afford regular dental care for their children.
“It’s so frustrating for these parents sometimes because they want their kids to get their teeth clean and they can’t,” Neves, who has children of his own, said. “If you can’t get your kids something, it really rips you apart.”
Neves, the other dentists and staff will be offering the full range of dental services that day.
“Cleaning, root canal, fillings, whatever I can do, that’s what we’re going to do that day,” he said. Neves’ staff also donate their time that day.
“The team’s really happy to come in that day,” he said. “I got an awesome team.”
A couple of dental supply companies have donated goods to the cause, and Neves said he’s received even more than he did last year.
Dental compassion day is an event Neves is planning on hosting yearly for the foreseeable future.
“I just want people to be able to afford basic dentistry, at least, so if that means us doing one day of free dentistry a year than that’s the least that we can do,” Neves said.
Bright Dental will be open Aug. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for dental compassion day.
