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ESCANABA -- The Upper Peninsula is known for the kindness and generosity of the people that live here.  One Escanaba dentist is not only living up to that standard, he and his office staff have taken it one step further.

It started with a routine cleaning.  That's when Dr. Bruce Carlyon and his staff discovered that 18-year-old James Bergman needed serious dental work in order to save his teeth.  But there was a problem--James didn't have the insurance or the finances to cover the work.

The staff was on the same page--they wanted to donate their time to fix James' teeth.  Carlyon had the same idea.

"That's when I said, I guess that's a done deal," said Carlyon.

For James' mother, Christine Towns, it was a dream come true.

"I cried," said Christine.  "I was talking to the receptionist and I was crying.  I was just so happy."

And that dream got even better when Dr. Carlyon and his staff decided to fix Christine's teeth as well.

"I'm not really used to people being that nice," James said.

Dr. Carlyon is known for his generosity, and this isn't the first time he's donated his services.

"This community's been good to me so, you know, you have to give back," Carlyon said.  "They just didn't have the means of doing it and he was a nice kid and didn't deserve to lose his teeth."

It's not what Christine and James expected when they moved here from Wisconsin.

"Since we moved up here, the people in the U.P. are just awesome," Christine said.

And after several months and many trips to the dentist's office, James is feeling great.

"A little bit of sensitivity from the fillings, but other than that, I can eat and drink cold stuff now without pain," James said.

For Dr. Carlyon, that's what his job is all about.