Organization provides free dental service for people in Eastern Kentucky

Perry County residents received free dental service Thursday after the SmileFaith Foundation rolled their dental bus into the parking lot at Harvest Baptist Church.

“I was out today and I saw this mobile home and the mountain mobile dentistry bus and it said free! So I'm open for opportunities,” Harry Francis said.

Francis is a retired veteran and told WYMT he had not been to the dentist in years.

“The veterans they don't give you the dental care, but they give you your glasses and everything else… You know dentistry, needing dental plates and all that is very expensive nowadays, you can't afford it unless you have a big income and retired people don't have that income,” Francis said.

The free service is offered through the SmileFaith Foundation, which moved to Jenkins about three years ago.

The foundation also brought in volunteer Registered Nurses to check patients’ blood pressure and glucose levels among other things.

“We're offering a free reading glass clinic where we're actually helping people choose the right power for reading glasses and then they get a free pair of reading glasses,” said Director of SmileFaith Foundation Michael O’Carroll.

O’Carroll said the goal behind the good work is making sure people are taken care of and feeling good about themselves at the end of the day.

“We pair counseling with charitable dental care so we believe that it's not enough to just give a person a smile on their face we also try to give them a smile in their heart as well,” said O’Carroll.

The organization started taking their dental work around Southeastern Kentucky in April and will continue through November.