Free dental clinic in Montreal reopens after sweeping renovation

A vital resource for Montrealers in need is back after a major facelift.

The Welcome Hall Mission and McGill University’s Jim Lund Dental Clinic offers free dental care for those who can’t afford it, including the homeless, seniors, and low income families.

“We have done tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of procedures since the opening of the clinic in 2010,” said Dr. Paul Sweet, a dentist who serves as director of the Jim Lund Dental Clinic.

Now, thanks to an extensive facelift and expansion that took over six months, the clinic will be able to double its capacity. The clinic has grown from three rooms to six and it’s decked out with state-of-the-art dental tools.

“Someone who is struggling deserves excellence. They don’t deserve our second best,” said Sam Watts, CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission.

Many of the patients can’t pay rent, buy groceries, and care for their teeth.

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Sweet says just administering dental care can help struggling people integrate into society and find jobs.

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“I see we can make a big difference not only in someone’s teeth, but in the impact that it has on their self-confidence, their mood,” he explains, saying he has seen unconfident people leave the clinic completely changed.

Sweet works both at Jim Lund and at a private practice.  Many of the patients he helps are recent immigrants or refugees — and sometimes they write letters of thanks for the life-changing care they received.

“It’s people like this that make this sort of work very fulfilling and cool,” Sweet told Global News.

Dozens of third and fourth year McGill dental students help out at the clinic.

“I follow up with this clinic every day, because we have to ensure that we are giving good services to our patients,” said Dr. Elham Emami, dean of McGill University’s Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences department.

It cost about $500,000 to run the clinic before the renovation. Watts predicts that price tag will now double.

The initiative is supported by McGill, the Quebec government and private donors like Greenshield, who donated over a million dollars for the renovation.

Watts says with more financial support, the clinic would be able to open its doors on the weekend more often when services are in high demand.