LIHU’E — The Free Care Day program initiated by owners and operators of Great Smiles Dental will be celebrating its 10th year when doors open this Saturday, Dec. 24. The program this year is being offered by those at Great
LIHU’E — The Free Care Day program initiated by owners and operators of Great Smiles Dental will be celebrating its 10th year when doors open this Saturday, Dec. 24.
The program this year is being offered by those at Great Smiles Dental and Action Physical Therapy, who occupy the Kukui Grove Professional Village space formerly held by owners and operators of Pacific Eye Care.
Free dental and physical-therapy services will be offered to residents who cannot afford to have their urgent needs met.
Doors will open at 7:30 a.m., and patients will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis until 12:30 p.m.
“There are many people who have urgent needs and cannot afford to have them met,” said Dr. Greg Naganuma, the dentist who started the program in conjunction with Dr. Larry Sherrer, an eye doctor, as well as several other health-care professionals, 10 years ago.
Sherrer and staff members of his Pacific Eye Care, now located next to Taco Bell in another part of Kukui Grove Professional Village, offered their free-care day on the eve of Thanksgiving, so that those needing eyeglasses or other equipment could be received by those in need before Christmas.
“We will try our best to render as much free service to all who request it on Christmas Eve, to the limits of our capacity,” Naganuma said.
“Our staffs are volunteering their time as a way to thank the community for allowing us to serve them, and Christmas Eve seems to be the perfect time to show this appreciation,” he added.
Dental and physical-therapy services will be provided free of charge.
Cash donations will be accepted, but are not required, and all donations will be placed in The Salvation Army red kettle that will be located in one of the offices.
Some examples of services that will be offered include dental cleanings, examinations, tooth removals, nerve treatments, fillings, and body-fat analysis.
Additionally, free toothbrushes and product samples will also be distributed.
Naganuma and Physical Therapist Steve Nakamura of Action Physical Therapy, as well as Ginger Allen and Tonya DeBarba, will be serving the public from their offices at the Kukui Grove Professional Village offices located across Kukui Grove Street from the Union 76 gas station.
If you need these services, and have no way to pay, they invite you to their offices on Christmas Eve, they said.
For more information, people may call Great Smiles Dental at 245-6933, or Action Physical Therapy at 246-0144.
