Looking to improve the oral health of the community, Cape Girardeau Dental Care is hosting a Free Dental Day to help community members keep up with their dental hygiene.

The free dental care includes cleanings, fillings and extractions, all offered at no cost to Cape Girardeau residents and those in the surrounding areas Saturday, Sept. 14.

Area professionals providing service on Free Dentistry Day include local dentists David Kaelin and Richard Straus, as well as teams from Cape Girardeau Dental Care, Alina Gristan of Jungermann Dental Care in St. Peters, Missouri, and dental assistants from the St. Louis area.

Kaelin explained there are growing numbers of Americans who do not have dental insurance, have gone a long time without receiving professional dental care or have a lack of education on dental hygiene.

Free Dental Day is a nationwide event created to help those who cannot afford dental services. According to the national event’s website at freedentistryday.org, last year more than 2,500 patients were given free dental care, equivalent to over $1 million dollars in free dentistry.

Cape Girardeau Dental Care doctors and staff believe this as an opportunity to give back to the community and provide services that are typically not cheap.

This is the second time Cape Girardeau Dental Care will host the event. In 2017, the company serviced approximately 80 patients resulting in almost $30,000 in free dentistry.

“It is our gift to the community,” Kaelin said. “We target people who can’t afford dentistry so we are giving away our services with no cost — we try to support our community in this way.”

Services will be provided at Cape Girardeau Dental Care, located at 7 Doctors Park in Cape Girardeau on a first-come, first-serve basis from8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

For more information, visit CapeGirardeauDentalCare.com/freedentistryday.org or call 573-339-7070.