New dental clinic geared to patients with little means to pay

Dr. Leanna Dunn provides a tour of the Wright Clinic in London, Ont. on September 16, 2022. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

A one of a kind dental centre that treats patients who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford dental care opened its doors to the community Friday.

“We accept any patients, there are no barriers,” says Dr. Ken Wright, a retired professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and one of the founders of the new non-profit Wright Dental Clinic in London, Ont.

“A lot of them are immigrants, refugees, homeless, people on OW [Ontario Works] and ODSP [Ontario Disability Support Program]. So as long as they meet the criteria threshold, household income level, we treat them. And we treat them completely. It’s not a question of just being able to do fillings and extractions,” says Wright. “We do root canals, we do dentures, full slate cleanings, examinations x-rays, so on.”

Run by a small core staff, along with volunteers, the clinic can treat 1,800 patients per year.

Clinic dentist Dr. Leanna Dunn said the experience so far has been life-changing.

“Working at this clinic, I really feel what it’s like to change people’s lives,” says Dunn. “And a lot of the patients we see haven’t seen a dentist in many years, whether it’s because of fear of judgement, or maybe they’re embarrassed, but seeing kind of before treatment and after, how far they’ve improved, and how much their quality of life has improved, it’s just remarkable.”

The permanent clinic, located in the Glen Cairn Resource Centre on Adelaide Street South in London, Ont. replaces a previous mobile clinic model.

The cost to build and equip the facility was $400,000, funded by grants and private donors.

The clinic has been up and running since February 2021, but its public launch has been delayed because of COVID-19.

Friday’s grand opening attracted several dignitaries, was well as members of the local community.