Free dental care ends in Calgary as donations drop

Calgary residents who need to see a dentist but don't have insurance, now have one less option.

After 20 years, the Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS) has stopped running free dental clinics.

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Krishna Dhakal neededa tooth pulled but today, she was out of luck.

"They told me today is the last day so we don't have any option to treat you," Dhakal said.

Kandis Kryzanowski is a dental assistant at the clinic and sees hundreds of low-income Calgarians each year.

Despite the setback, she is still hopeful for the future.

"Ideally, this doesn't get shut down for longer than a year," Kryzanowski said.

"As soon as the funding comes back and they're able to get the program up and running, from what I understand, that is the goal but right now we just unfortunately don't have the funds to keep the program running."

Kryzanowski says the group relies heavily on corporate donations and they have taken a hit with the state of the economy.

"Unfortunately those big companies that used to donate to us annually, they're just not around anymore, they can't do that any more economically for their own company."

Dave Anthony got lucky. He got a couple of teeth pulled before it was too late.

"It hurt so bad, there was nothing I could do," Anthony said.

"If I didn't come here today, on the last day, I don't know what I would have done."

Anthony says it's a shame because the program is sorely needed.

"Programs like this, unfortunately, get the short end of the stick but I don't understand it because this is a really beneficial program to a lot of Calgarians," he added.

Last year, the Saturday dental clinics provided free care worth close to $100,000 to hundreds of patients, according to CUPS online financial report.

CUPS is suggesting patients seek subsidized care at one of two other clinics in the city, but they're not free of charge.