By ZOË WATKINS
zwatkins@bedfordcountypost.com
A Hometown Care Day featuring free dentistry will be held Friday, Nov. 3, at First Baptist Church, 304 E. Depot St., starting at 7:30 a.m.
Husband and wife team Drs. Chelsey Crowell Gregory and Zachary Gregory, along with their team of 30 assistants, support staff, and volunteers will be offering extractions, fillings, and cleanings.
Dr. Chelsey is from Shelbyville, born and raised, and a 2007 graduate of Shelbyville Central High School. And though she practices in her husband’s hometown of Henderson, Ky., she still has a deep hometown connection to Shelbyville.
Drs. Chelsey and Zachary Gregory
“I feel like I need to give back to my community that gave me so much, and this is the best way I know how because this is my gift, this is what I have been blessed with,” she said.
A 2016 graduate of the University Of Louisville School Of Dentistry, she and Dr. Zack have been practicing for eight years, recently working at Audubon Dental in Henderson.
Nov. 3 won’t be their first free dental care day; they provide such services in Kentucky every year. But it will be the first of its kind for them in Shelbyville.
To meet the needs, they will be using a mobile dental unit provided by the North American Mission Board from the Southern Baptist Convention. “It’s got its own water capacity. It’s got its own generator. All of my dental supplies and instruments on there. The only thing we will be transporting logistically are the people serving,” Dr. Chelsey explained.
They will also be providing child care for parents needing treatment.
“We’ll do some selective cleanings, but really extractions and fillings because I want to take care of pain patients first—what’s hurting them,” said Dr. Chelsey.
She said she chose dentistry in the first place as she knew she wanted to balance having a family with helping others.
“I felt like dentistry I would be able to be a mother, be a professional, and still help the community in some capacity, and kind of bring all three of those things together,” she said. “I knew very early on I wanted to be a dentist.”
For the free care day, Dr. Chelsey said she is most excited for the reward she feels in her heart.
“Being able to give back to a community that build me, the community that gave me so much in life—is what I’m looking forward to the most. You can’t get that anywhere else,” she said.
If turnout is good, Dr. Chelsey said she would like to make this an annual event in Shelbyville. The event will be first come first serve. For questions, call 270-826-2092.
