Another year, another successful ‘Smiles from the Heart’ event.
On Sunday, free dental care was provided on a first-come, first-serve basis at Compass Dental.
The work included extractions and fillings for those over the age of 18.
A few patients also had their teeth cleaned if they were sitting in the hygiene chair and needed it.
This is the seventh year that Compass Dental has provided this service.
The dentists who took part include Dr. Mike Finn, Dr. Sarah Reynhoudt, Dr. Wenhui Jiang, Dr. John Chin, and Dr. Woody Neilson.
Compass Dental practice manager, Christi Nelson, said the free service stemmed from the office, led by Finn, wanting to give back to the community and help people who couldn’t afford dental care.
This year, the dentists worked on 60 patients from all walks of life.
“We saw patients that live on the streets, we saw patients that are from working families that don’t have dental plans, we saw elderly patients, we saw quite a variety of patients with a variety of needs,” Nelson said.
The event is always held on the last Sunday of January. Because the office is normally closed that day, the dentists and staff work for free.
“We come in early in the morning and we stay the whole day,” Nelson said.
“We didn’t turn anybody away yesterday. We saw all (the) patients that arrived.”
Nelson said all of the patients were very grateful on Sunday, and since then, the office has received numerous phone calls and email messages from patients, expressing their thanks for the free service.
Nelson said it was a win/win for everyone.
“Our team finds it to be one of the most enjoyable days of the year. It’s giving back to the patients (and) everyone is so grateful, it’s a feel-good day for everybody.”
