Fish For Teeth brings free mobile dental clinic to Friday Harbor

The October Fish For Teeth clinic will be at half capacity and only host patients in urgent need of care. – Contributed photo

Islanders, unable to afford dental care, can receive it for free thanks to the local nonprofit Fish For Teeth on Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Mullis Community Center on San Juan Island. Due to health precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic will host half of the number of patients usually scheduled. Patients must be in need of urgent care, and no regular dental cleanings will be scheduled at this clinic.

Fish For Teeth sponsors a mobile dental van for two-day clinics on San Juan Island, three times a year. Patients are seen by appointment only. Pick up applications at the San Juan Island Family Resource Center or the county health department, or download them at www.fishforteeth.com. Submit applications to the San Juan County Health Department on Rhone Street. Volunteers, not the county health department employees, determine scheduling a week before the clinic based on severity and space.

To raise funds for the van, Fish for Teeth volunteers usually sell fish tacos on the Friday of the clinics held in January, October and May.

Matt Marinkovich, a San Juan Island commercial fisherman, formed Fish For Teeth in 2007, after noticing a community need for affordable dental care. Fish For Teeth receives no federal funding and relies solely on donations, which are tax-deductible. For more information, visit www.fishforteeth.com or contact [email protected].

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