Bright Smiles Community Dental Hygiene is getting back to providing free services to those in need.
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Bright Smiles Community Dental Hygiene is getting back to providing free services to those in need.
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Owner and dental hygienist Christine Bureau said 16 patients routinely received free services every two to three months on community days through her “Give where you live” charity.
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But when the pandemic hit, she couldn’t bring in volunteers to help run the clinics.
“I still committed to seeing the same number of clients at no cost. I was just working them into my routine,” Bureau said.
On Feb. 21, Bright Smiles will offer a community day on a smaller scale with the help of registered hygienist Leeanne Pepper “just to test the waters and get back into it.”
Prior to opening Bright Smiles, the Chatham native spent seven years working for a non-profit in Calgary providing free dental hygiene care and education through a mobile clinic.
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“That’s where my passion lies — doing this outreach type of work,” Bureau said.
Pepper, who volunteered at the clinics prior to COVID, said the oral health of people coming to the clinic can vary significantly.
“Some of the needs are pretty dire. It’s affecting their lifestyle, their quality of life.” she said.
“Everybody needs to have a nice, healthy mouth. It changes their life.
“I’m definitely all-in to help.”
Bureau said it has been a learning curve operating the community days, noting they didn’t run as smoothly when opened to the general public.
She pivoted and started working with non-profit groups such as the Salvation Army and the Chatham-Kent Women’s Centre making the clinics by appointment only.
Bureau said Bright Smiles is working with the Adult Language and Learning Centre for the upcoming clinic to have the agency choose people from their clients that are in need of dental hygiene work.
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She said those coming to the clinic will receive a cleaning (scaling), polishing, fluoride if needed, along with a tissue check and cancer screening.
The clinic also focuses on trying to find places people can receive further dental care, Bureau said.
Education is also important because there are still people who don’t know government programs are available, and need help navigating the process.
Although she is always looking for sponsors and volunteers, at this time Bureau puts a portion of the fees received from patients aside to provide free services.
“I’m carrying the majority of the financial load for that.”
More details about Bright Smiles charity can be found at brightsmilescdh.ca.
“I’m hoping that after this soft launch back into the community days, the next one we have I can bring in more volunteers and see more clients . . . and really get back into the swing of thing,” she said.
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