Joseph Wright (left), executive director of Great Shape Inc, welcomes Dr Irving McKenzie, chief dental officer of Jamaica and dean of the University of Technology (UTech) College of Oral Health Sciences, along with volunteer dental students from Germany to the volunteers orientation at Sandals Ochi Beach Resort last Saturday.

Great Shape Inc and Sandals Resorts have been in partnership for over 15 years bringing free dental treatment to thousands of Jamaicans. This year is no different as the communities look forward to their annual community clinics.

The community clinics are being held simultaneously at the Claremont Anglican Church Hall, Eltham Community Centre in St Ann, and Port Maria Baptist Church in St Mary. A clinic is planned for Sandals team members at Sandals Ochi Beach Resort.

The team working during Week One of the clinics, which began on Sunday and runs through to today, consist of over 55 volunteers from the USA, Germany and UTech. The Week Two team, which is larger, will continue at the same clinics October 2-6. Services being offered include, cleaning, filling, extraction, and partial dentures among others.

Another component of the programme will be school visits to conduct oral hygiene classes to 400 students daily and to distribute oral health packages.

“This programme is high in demand as community members can never get enough of our painless dental team,” said Sandals spokeswoman Lyndsay Isaacs. “They eagerly look forward to their arrival and to find out which communities they will be operating from. Patients can be seen as early as 6:00 am waiting patiently in lines for the volunteers arrival. Our volunteers are full of love and professionalism and wish they could attend to everyone.”

Sandals Foundation provides luxury included accommodation, transportation and other logistic support for the annual dental programme, which is held in Whitehouse, Negril, Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios.