Commercial fishermen and dental professionals working together
have provided 10 years of dental services for those who
could otherwise not afford care in the San Juan Islands.
Friday Harbor Dental Clinics
​These one-day dental clinics will be conducted four times a year, with local dental professionals volunteering their time to provide care. This year's schedule is as follows:
-
February 21, 2025; Friday
-
May 16, 2025; Friday
-
August 1, 2025; Friday,
-
November 14, 2025; Friday ​​​
​
Fish for Teeth started in 2007 after a nine year old girl showed a Friday Harbor commercial fisherman her mouth full of cavities. Since then Fish for Teeth has provided over 1,000 trips to the dental chair for those who could otherwise not afford the care.
​
Through 2012-2023, the Medical Teams International mobile dental van served well over 1,000 patients. The early years utilized a 100% volunteer force of local dental professionals and caring community members; Fish for Teeth shouldered all of the cost, holding Fish Taco fundraisers, with direct donations from the community filling the funding gap. The later years of the dental van were subsidized through grants, with Fish for Teeth providing a smaller percentage of the funding for this expanded, County-wide program.
​
Beginning in 2025, Fish for Teeth's focus is hosting the San Juan Community Dental Clinic. We still work collaboratively with the County, sharing resources (and patients) between our islands.
Our grant funding ended in 2024, so from this point forward Fish for Teeth is 100% financially responsible for the Community Dental Clinic lease and our portion of the software associated with patient tracking on San Juan Island. Fish for Teeth also provides accommodations for the off-island dental professionals who help with the Sealant Clinic (for school-aged kids) in May, and our Dental Scholarship program, which takes care of emergency situations between clinics.​​
​
The County-wide program brought
very good results, as seen below:
​
-
2021: 390 patients seen in 36 days of dental van clinics across San Juan County with $199,000 of dental services provided (141 patients on SJI, $83,746 of dental services).
-
2022: 423 patients seen in 36 days of dental van clinics across San Juan County with $251,227 of dental services provided (160 patients on SJI, estimated $95,000 of dental services).
-
2023: 399 patients seen in 35 days of dental van clinics across San Juan County with $260,058 of dental services provided (163 patients on SJI, $114,074 of dental services).
Our Community Dental Clinic will continue to support Friday Harbor and will hope to help about 120 people a year. Most patients will be from San Juan Island, but anyone from San Juan County is welcome to come to the Fish for Teeth clinics in Friday Harbor.
As a way to address more complicated cases that are above the scope of our services, please consider helping with this local community member.