VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - People living in the Downtown Eastside now have a place to go for free dental care. UBC dentists have opened up a one-chair clinic at
First United Church that will be open one day a week.
Kevin Lovett was the first patient in the chair. He needs some serious work done on his upper teeth and he's thankful for the clinic. "[The dentists] are nice. They're making it comfortable. The Church tries to do what's best for the area."
UBC Dentistry Associate Dean Dr. Chris Zed says it might be tough to provide long-term care for people in the area right now. "The focus really should be at this point on pain and infection management, some education chair-side, and trying to give some tools of how to manage from the prevention perspective some of their dental care and health issues."
Zed says the chair and equipment cost about $50,000 and they welcome donations of toothbrushes and floss. The clinic hopes to see six to ten patients a day.