Dr. Jess Chhokar and the staff at Langdon Dental held their first ever Cares 4 Kids campaign which provided free dental care to youth 18 years and under Feb. 3.
“We’re helping the people that need it the most,” said Chhokar.
About $8,000 worth of dental care covering checkups, cleanings, fillings, extractions, fluoride, scaling, polishing and oral hygiene education were performed by the staff during the one day event for families experiences financial difficulty that would prevent them from accessing dental care.
Community members nominated the patients to take part in the event.
“We pretty much scheduled everyone that applied for this,” said Chhokar.
Chhokar was inspired to run this program after seeing The Alex medical bus in Calgary.
He and the staff decided that providing dental care to those in need in Langdon was how they wanted to give back to the community.
“We have jobs here and one of the reason’s we are employed is because of the community…so a small gesture, it’s nice to give back to your community as well,” he said.
Everyone was tired but happy after the event ended as a success.
Chokkar said that although he was never at the front desk as people were leaving he was told that everyone who came was really appreciative and grateful for the checkup.
They plan to continue running this event every year.
In the future, Chhokar said they would like to partner with existing organizations such as the food bank to ensure that those who will benefit from the program can.
“We could actually have seen more people,” he said.
Even if the economy improves, Chhokar said there is always someone in need of some help which is why they will continue running this program.
