Dental hygienists want to make you smile this weekend.
On Saturday, April 6th, many dental hygienists all over Canada will be participating in Gift from the Heart. This is a movement that invites dental hygienists to treat clients for free for one day only. These treatments are offered all day to people who can’t afford it or don’t have access to dental insurance.
Marcia Rutledge, owner and dental hygienist of Barry’s Bay Dental Hygiene Clinic says that she’s been participating for eight years. “We do preventative treatments that include oral cancer treatments, clean teeth, remove stains, depending on what our clients need” she says.
Rutledge says that, even before she set up shop, her mission was to create better access to dental hygiene to people who needed it. She says that in the first year that she participated in Gift from the Heart, she treated 19 people in one day. “Just to put it in perspective, on an average day, I see six to eight people”. Over the last few years, she says that the number of people who have walked in for a free treatment has gone down. “I’m concerned that people are worried about the wait time” she says, and states that last years wait time was about 30 minutes between clients. This Saturday, Rutledge says there will be two treatment rooms which she hopes will bring the wait time down.
She says that people are welcomed to call the clinic and verify how many clients are waiting and what the wait time is. At the end of the day, she just wants people who need it to not be shy and walk in. She says the treatments will be scheduled on a first come first served basis. For more information on Barry’s Bay Dental Hygiene Clinic, you can call them at 613-75MOUTH (613-756-6884). For more information on Gift From the Heart, click here.