Triad dental hygienist finds passion volunteering overseas

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sarah Cline has combined her dentistry skills with her passion for volunteering to help people in need as far away as Africa.

A dental hygienist, Cline helped out recently at the Servant Center, a nonprofit in Greensboro that was holding its Triad Stand Down event. It’s a way for veterans in the community to get free haircuts and dental, vision and hearing checkups.

Her volunteering spirit began with a trip overseas.

“I went to Togo in West Africa, which is a small little skinny country beside Ghana. And we did a week’s worth of like dental mission work. So we went out to multiple like feeding centers, schools,” Cline said.

For a week she treated hundreds of people, children and adults, who had never seen a dentist.

“You think you’re going over there to help, but they’re actually helping you in a different place in life,” Cline said.

She said the experience changed her, inspiring her to go back a second time.

“You see like how they’ve grown and everything. And it’s just a huge change. Like the first year you see them. They’ve never had a toothbrush or toothpaste. I mean they use like branches off a tree there,” Cline said.

That experience inspired her to bring that same service back home.

“Both my parents are veterans, so it resonates with me. They served our country, so many times so I think they should have access to those things,” Cline said.

A Mississippi native, Cline helped at free clinics in her home state and now in Africa and the Triad, making sure no one is left behind.

“Back in Mississippi, we had a free clinic in Jackson. So, on Saturdays I was on the board. So, I would go just about two Saturdays a month, and we would clean and take care of people who were homeless or fresh out of prison,” she said.

Cline said her goal is the same wherever she’s helping out – to give people a reason to smile.

“I love being able to help people that are in need of it because it’s really important,” Cline said. “Everyone needs it. So everyone deserves a chance to get things looked at and checked.”