Steady day for St. Albert dentist office offering free services

Bright Dental in St. Albert offered free services to anyone who came in on Nov. 1, 2025. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

For years, patients have come in droves to a St. Albert dentist office for a chance at free services.

Bright Dental hosted its 13th annual Free Dental Day for those in need of restorative dental treatments or hygiene services. The only years the services were not offered were during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The office opened at 9 a.m., and although there weren’t massive lines too early in the day, the office says the flow of people is always steady.

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The day was created for people who might not have insurance, are in pain or who otherwise don’t have access to dental care.

“I’m born and raised in St. Albert, so it’s really nice to give back to the community,” said Mark Warawa, one of the dentists offering services on Saturday.

“Dental work’s expensive, no matter who you are, so it’s nice to just be able to treat everyone and know they’re not going through any financial stress coming to see the dentist.”

For Meighan Thom, the day means her and her three children are able to get important work done on their mouths.

“One of them is 21 so she doesn’t have any coverage at all, so she needs it as well,” Thom said from the dentist’s chair.

“I’ve never heard of this before, and I was really grateful for it … I got the kids up really early, and they were sleeping in the car, just to make sure that we got in right away.”

One man was there after a few years away from the dentist due to health complications and, like many, not liking dentist offices very much.

“Considering my history with cancer and chemotherapy and having done copious amounts of damage to my body, it was probably a good idea to come and get as much coverage as I could on this,” he said.

“For all I know, all my teeth are done, and I need to get full dentures,” he joked. “God, I hope not.”

Bright Dental does a free day around the fall season each year as they can.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall