Fleming Island dentist office holds annual Free Dentistry Day

Patient has 28 teeth removed for free at Island Walk Dental Care

FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – Sometimes dental work can be expensive, so one local office wanted to take price out of the equation for people in the community.

Island Walk Dental Care in Fleming Island held their annual Free Dentistry Day and dozens of people came out to get extractions for free.

Not many people want to hug their dentist when leaving the chair, but Kevin Miller's a little different. He just had 28 teeth removed for free.

"They changed my life today. They made me a different person after today," said Miller.

Miller took part in Island Walk Dental Care's Free Dentistry Day. Now he won't have to deal with the pain his teeth caused or pay for the extractions, stitching and bone grafting, which would have cost him nearly $4,000.

"It would have been tough," said Miller. "I would have had to do it, though, sometime down the line. But since they did it today, it made it so much easier on me. It was. It was awesome."

Dr. Ashley Phares spent hours on Miller's dentistry. She came from another dentist office to volunteer for the event.

"You know honestly this is probably the best part of my job," said Phares. "I love being able to help people get out of pain, letting people have more confidence in themselves and this is just an opportunity to be able to do that."

Dozens of people took advantage of the the opportunity. The first 100 were given free extractions from the 13 doctors and 25 volunteers from the office and others in the area who volunteered their time.

This is the fourth year that Island All Dental Care has held this event and in that time they've treated hundreds of patients for free.

Dr. Renata Folstein has taken part every year, and says it's rewarding and fun.

"We just love having a day where we don't have to worry about finances," said Folstein. "Patients come in, they point out a tooth that is hurting them and that's the one day we don't have to worry about a treatment plan. Whether the patient can afford it or not, we can just go ahead, and jump and do it."

"I feel like they're giving back to the community you know? They're helping everybody out that can't help themselves," said Miller. "It's awesome. That's all you can say. You can just thank them, that's all."