Dentists, hygienists and office staff at a Kelowna dental office gave up their Saturday to volunteer for a program coordinated by a local charity.
Thanks to East Meets West and the Access Dental office, dozens of kids without easy access to dental care were able to get an appointment.
About 60 kids were in the dentist’s chair getting cleanings and checkups.
“Our mandate has always been children’s health and education,” said Rahul Virk, chair of East Meets West. “Especially with the influx of people into Kelowna lately, there’s a lot of children missing the basic needs of dental care.”
For some of the kids, this was their very first trip to the dentist, while others have only had dental care after an emergency
“There are a couple of reasons for that one of the very important reasons I would say economic burden these days,” said Vikas Raj, a dentist at Access Dental Care.
“These days, dentistry (is) ignored most, but this is very important because dental health really matters a lot for well-being as well. We are not only helping kids here we are trying to educate the parents as well for future dental care.”
The project is called Smile 24 and it focuses on families without a dental plan or without an adequate one.
“It teaches them going to the dentist isn’t scary,” said Sharon Boscoe, a mother of one of the children getting dental care. “It teaches them healthy habits and (my daughter) loved it.”
Every kid was sent home with a fresh smile and a new electric toothbrush.
Comments