For one local dentists’ office, it’s just as important to fill their patient’s teeth as their spirits.
The Williamsburg Center for Dental Health closed their office to regular patients Friday in order to provide free dental services to under-served members of the community during their fourth annual Day of Smiles event.
On Friday, Dr. Stacey Sparkman Hall and clinic staff served about 70 patients who could not afford dental work. By 7:30 a.m., more than 30 Day of Smiles patients had already arrived at the clinic.
At last year’s event, Williamsburg Center for Dental Health donated over $20,000 in services, which include teeth cleanings, fillings, and extractions. Patients are also given a free breakfast or lunch to take home following each procedure.
“When they leave today, they’ll get either breakfast or lunch,” Hall said of the patients. “So they’ll leave through our kitchen and somebody’s there serving them.”
After procedures are finished, and meals are offered, the clinic’s staff prays with each patient. Hall says they often pray with patients for jobs and the health of family members. Mothers commonly pray for their children.
“It’s a God event,” Hall said. “This is all God driven, serving God and these people. Being able to feed them, literally feeding them, but also spiritually feeding them.”
This year, Williamsburg Center for Dental Health partnered with Fiscella Family Dentistry to care for more patients than in previous years. Hall said she’d like to see more area dentists get involved with the event.
“In the future, I would love for more offices to be open and available,” Hall said. “Because some of these patients, it’s not as easy for them to get here as it is for them to get on the other side of the city.”
