The local chapter of a volunteer organization dedicated to helping the less fortunate surmount the barriers holding them back from proper oral care has had success in the last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gift From The Heart is made up of dentists, dental hygienists and others who volunteer their time and services to help people get the dental help they need but perhaps can’t afford or don’t have access to.
In the past year the group, like many others, has had to pivot with the challenges of the pandemic.
Despite that, they were able to host their annual day of giving, normally in April, on September 11.
In the Quinte area they serviced 63 people with a variety of services totalling $18,000, all for free.
Dr. Ramez Saltiwill, who is a member of GFTH and practised dentistry in the Quinte region for 12 years, spoke about the impact of their day of giving.
“Eighty-three percent can’t afford dental care. Eighty-three percent of the people that showed up that day simply cannot afford dental care. They feel discriminated against, they experience a lot of anxiety. Those people rely on free dental days to get healthy in their mouth and therefore to get healthy in general. The need is out there and it’s not just about not being able to afford dentistry, it’s you don’t understand the link between health and dentistry. Clearly people feel like they’re discriminated against.”
Another big part of the last year for the group was the acquisition of a decommissioned ambulance which they then retrofitted with a dental chair and other dental fixtures to turn into a mobile dental clinic.
Gift From The Heart President Bev Woods explained the function of the ambulance now dubbed the community cruiser.
“This community cruiser, as you can see on the inside here, is outfitted for me to do oral wellness exams, that means just taking a look inside their mouth and assessing it. As a dental hygienist I can provide dental hygiene service, I can clean their teeth, I can do oral cancer screenings.”
The group also ordered a ramp that can be attached to the community cruiser to make it accessible.
The group was at Quinte West council’s meeting Monday via zoom to ask for support in principle.
Council agreed emphatically and did one better in motioning to support the group in principle as well as to offer to make repairs to the vehicle if necessary.
The motion was voted on and approved.
