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Just 15. Grade 10 starts tomorrow. The cupboards are empty. Well-worn sneakers, the freshest addition to the wardrobe. The pain is excruciating. Both front teeth have been infected now for weeks, need root canals. Can’t eat, can’t drink, can’t breathe. Raw nerves shriek in pain. Everyone in the House feels the stress. No dental insurance. There are few, very few, circumstances where the sound of a dentist drill is welcome. Usually, that sound is the sure sign the next few hours are going to be uncomfortable.
There are lights in our community that shine a little brighter, and one of those lights in Saanich North and the Islands is ORCCA, Oral Care for Children and Adolescents Dental Clinic Society. A non-profit dental clinic in the annex at Sidney Elementary, ORCCA provides dental services to children under 19 from families on the Saanich Peninsula that need the support from their community. Basically, they make sure kids are not suffering because they don’t have dental insurance.
Of the 400 kids ORCCA has helped, they average eight fillings needed in the first visit. Clearly, this is a valuable service.
The staff and board of ORCCA cannot do it alone, so the B.C. government stepped up with $24,000 last June — $14,000 for root canal and sedation equipment and a $10,000 operating grant that helped resource the clinic.
ORCCA won the 2017 Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Crystal Award for non-profit of the year. They are one of many examples of incredible citizens investing their time, effort and love into finding innovative solutions for our friends, family and neighbours who need it.
And this story is of how government plays a critical role in our society, stepping up to help improve the quality of life in our communities. For all the remarkable accomplishments of ORCCA, the most remarkable might be their ability to make a dentist drill a sound of comfort.
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