Provo Mayor Lewis Billings was in the hot seat Thursday night.

He was sitting in a dental chair surrounded by sterilized metal tools, bright lights and even a few dentists at a newly opened dental clinic in downtown Provo.

The difference is, the chair, lights and tools were donated, and the dentists, hygienists and other staffers volunteer their time to serve low-income, uninsured Utah County residents.

"Everything in this building's been donated," said Brent Crane, executive director of the Food and Care Coalition, motioning toward the equipment.

The clinic, which is open on Tuesdays for cleanings and Fridays for dental work, is a coordinated effort between the coalition and Share-A-Smile, a nonprofit organization Dr. Eric Vogel started in 2000. Vogel, after donating dental work in developing countries, returned to Utah and said "I just saw so much need."

"There's people that need our help in this community," Crane added. "Shame on us when we don't give them our best effort."

The clinic has been in operation for several years but has been running out of the coalition's dining room; Crane said they'd move the tables out and the chairs in and set up shop. When the building at 100 N. 275 W. became available, they took the opportunity to expand.

And expand they're going to. Nancy Mickiewicz, director of the Community Storehouse, which is a project of the coalition, said 40 doctors have signed up and they should start serving about 60 people a month instead of 15, "If everything goes right."

There's no exchange of money for the services, although the dental work isn't done without compensation. Crane said they expect patients to do four hours of service.

"We feel that that's important because it helps them to retain their human dignity," he said. "We should expect something in return."

Vogel gets his rewards from interacting with the patients, he said.

He leaves the administrative work to Crane and the coalition, which allows for plenty of time checking and cleaning teeth and chatting with the people in the chairs.

As a teacher at Brigham Young University, he's also gotten several of his students involved.

As they graduated and took jobs elsewhere, they took the idea with them, and now dentists in other areas are getting similar clinics or programs started.

But nothing is as good as seeing the patients smile, Vogel said, remembering a woman whose front teeth he replaced just a few weeks ago. S

he takes care of several children in a family during the day, and they'd gotten a little involved in her life.

"These little kids prayed every night that she would get teeth," Vogel said, tearing up as he talked about the experience. "She couldn't wait to tell them God answered their prayers."

For more information about the clinic, call (801) 373-1825 or go to www.foodandcare.org.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.