A Christmas cleaning? Paradise company offers free smiles

Here's a story virtually guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

A Paradise, Newfoundland dental clinic is holding a free clinic all day Sunday.

"We just wanted to do something to help with the Christmas spirit and just to give back to our loyal customers and our patients, so that's what we're going to do," said Ruby Barnes, a receptionist at Paradise Dental Care.

"Everybody is pretty excited about it. We have a whole bunch of people coming in for cleanings and fillings and stuff like that."

We just wanted to do something to help with the Christmas spirit and just to give back.- Ruby Barnes

Barnes told Here and Now that the idea came from a dentist at the clinic who did something similar at her clinic in Nova Scotia before relocating to Newfoundland.

On Sunday, the full staff complement will be in, she said; three dentists, two hygenists, support staff and receptionists.

Appointments limited

It's expected to be a busy day.

"We had a limited amount of appointments available so we just went through our patient list and tried to pick out some people who we felt would benefit from having this done," she said.

"Financially some people find it really difficult to get their dental work completed and, especially with Christmas coming up."

Barnes said while some of the people selected would have a tough time paying for the services they will receive on Sunday, others are just long-time patients who deserve a free cleaning, for example.

"It was difficult because we could probably do a week of different people. There's certainly a lot of need out there for something like this and a lot of patients who are very deserving."

A growing need

Barnes said the service is needed more than ever this year, especially after the province made cuts to seniors' and low-income dental care programs in its spring budget.

"There's definitely a huge need," she said.

About 20 people in all will get free dental services on Sunday.

Barnes said another group of deserving patients will be selected for next year's free clinic.

And that's not the end of the Christmas cheer.

Instead of doing a gift exchange, staff will donate gifts to a single parents assocation.

"Some of my family and friends have also jumped in so we've collected a number of gifts and we're still hoping to get some more in the next week or so," Barnes said.