The Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic provides free dental services to anyone who needs them
Residents of This North Carolina Town Struggled to Afford Dental Care—Volunteers Banded Together to Make It Free
In 2003, three churches brought a mobile dental clinic to Cashiers, North Carolina, a tiny vacation town with just 752 year-round residents. When the clinic moved on, hundreds of hopefuls were left in line.
Church volunteers who saw the good that accessible dental care could do raised funds to buy office space. Dental practices donated chairs and equipment; a dentist and a hygienist donated their time; and the Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic was open. The pool of volunteers grows every year: In 2023, more than 20 professionals helped some 700 people with overdue fillings, extractions and dentures.
“You don’t need to walk around feeling bad about yourself, because they can change your life for the better,” says Elizabeth Hooper, who skipped her school reunion because she couldn’t afford to fix her teeth. “I got the smile—I’m going to show it off!”
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Originally Published in Reader's Digest
