A local dental hygienist is offering women at the Chatham-Kent Women's Centre to clean their teeth for free.
The "Give Where You Live" initiative was launched by the Bright Smiles Dental Hygiene Clinic in Chatham to provide free dental care to the community's most vulnerable at no cost.
"So exams, cleaning, polish, and fluorides," says owner Christine Fairbairn, who's partnered with a dentist out of Windsor to provide work that runs the gamut from fillings to root canals without the expensive bill.
"I had spoken at a Rotary meeting, and basically put it out there to the group that if anybody was aware of a pocket of need within the city that could benefit from a free clinic day, to reach out to me."
She ended up hearing back from a former Women's Centre employee.
"I definitely felt like they were a good not-for-profit to donate some time and attention to," she says.
Her first free clinic day is scheduled for later this month, but Fairbairn plans to hold one every other month.
She wants to help people, who otherwise wouldn't be able to sit in a dentist's chair, gain control of their oral health.
"Preventative care is extremely important," says Fairbairn. "Your oral health is connected to your overall health and it can be linked to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's -- the list goes on and on."
Bright Smiles is collecting donations that'll help make the day possible. Find out more here. With files from Matt Weverink.