Dental Clinics

"Always Enjoyable"
Dr. Kirk Shillinger, volunteer

Children's Services

Children are our primary focus for care.  Children receive comprehensive dental care in a timely manner.  The services are primarily preventative and restorative care, including exams, x-rays, fillings, stainless steel crowns, extractions, and space maintainers.

Preventative care for children is provided in several clinic settings.  During the Wednesday pediatric immunization clinics, waiting children are offered a dental screening and a fluoride varnish.  The child may then be referred to the restorative clinic if needed. The dental van travels to schools and children's events for fluoride varnish and sealant clinics.  This is a great way to reach out to children in need. Many children are eligible for state or federal dental insurance.  Children can be seen by our volunteers for most treatment needs, even until insurance becomes active.   

The purpose of the adult clinics is to relieve pain and infection. Although we would like to help everyone, the demand is too great and our resources too few; therefore we are limited to providing emergency care such as extractions and fillings.  The clinic will reschedule patients if the care provider believes the patient will be in pain or infection within a 6 month period.

Varied Clinic Schedules - based on dentist's sign up (Mon-Sat)

Volunteer Staff:  Dentists | Dental Hygienists| Dental Assistants| Clinic Assistants/Clerks

Patient Referral Project

Dentists accept Patient Referrals in your own practice!  Should you prefer, there is also the option of providing care for patients in your own clinic on a referral basis. You decide how many, how often, and what type.  Please contact Carolyn at 360.313.1387 for more information.

Clinic Times

Monday – Saturday, mornings or afternoons.

Dentist volunteers determine their own best schedule.

Other Details

Patients are scheduled according to each dentist's preference; i.e., how you prefer to work, from the number of patients to the amount of time allotted to the type of treatment you are comfortable doing. 

Dental Assistants:  We can arrange a volunteer dental assistant, but most dentists prefer to bring their assistants.  Let us know if you will be bringing your own assistant, or if we should schedule a volunteer.

Volunteer with a Peer:  Some of our volunteers enjoy meeting their peers in the dental community, or recruiting a peer to work the same shift with you.  Each clinic has two operatory chairs.

Make it Regular:  It can be helpful to plan ahead and reserve your scheduled times.  When you are a regular, whether semi-annually, quarterly, or like some of our champion volunteers, monthly, you can reserve the time of your choice up to a year in advance.  Some volunteers schedule a regular shift together.

TWO operatories are located in the van.  One returning patient is booked for treatment while a second patient is scheduled for a focus exam and required x-rays.  This is YOUR clinic, so if you feel you want to do something other than the treatment plan suggests, or don’t feel comfortable doing anything at all, that is your diagnosis.

Volunteer with a Peer - If two dentists are working, they will be working with one chair, and about 45 minutes is scheduled for each patient, unless you specify otherwise.

Schedules are ALWAYS adjustable.  A patient can be rescheduled after an exam which will save time for the next dentist because x-rays are already taken, or treatment can start right away, depending on how much time you feel you have.  The tentative schedule will be posted in the van.

Patient Overview

Patients who come to the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington are required to have no insurance and are low income. 

Many have postponed dental care due to financial considerations and sometimes arrive with increasingly acute symptoms and multiple complaints. 

They are asked to make a financial donation if they can, or are offered a self-addressed envelope for a later donation. 

Patients are aware the providers are volunteering their time and skills and are always very grateful. 

The cultural competency overview in your volunteer handbook provides insight into the culture of poverty, as well as other cultural factors that may apply to patients seeking help from the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington.

Employed Staff / Team Leaders

Carolyn Noack, RDH  | Dental Program Manager | 360.313.1387 | carolyn@freeclinics.org

Crystal Alway, CDA | Dental Van Coordinator | 360.313.1383 | crystal@freeclinics.org 

Stephen Hendricks| AmeriCorps Clinic Coordinator | 360.313.1383 | stephen@freeclinics.org

Dental Supplies Provided

Although each dentist has their favorite materials, we are limited to providing a some what generic list of supplies and instruments.  A dental facilitator will be present in the van at all times to support you in finding instruments and if you have other questions.  This is a general list of what we supply.  If you require additional supplies and instrument please feel free to bring them with you.

Basic Dental Supplies

• Nitrile Gloves

• Cone Masks

• Ear Loop Masks

• Adult & Pedo Film

• High and Slow Speed Handpieces

• Mirror/Explorer/Cotton Pliers

Restorative Instruments

• Pluggers

• Spoon

• Gregg 

• Sm/Lrg Burnishers

• T-3 Carver

• Cleoid-Discoid Carvers

• Hollenbeck Carver

• SS Quad Carver

• Rubber Dam Supplies

• Amalgam

• Composite

• Fuji lX

• Vitribond

• Focus

• Gluma

• Dycal

• Copilite

• Lutting Cement

• Crown Cement

Surgical Instruments

• Elevators- Straight, 190/191/Flag, Periosteal 

• Root Tips

• Forceps 150, 151, 23, 88R, 88L, Bird Beak

• Sutures, Bard Parker

• Burs, 330,557

• Rd 12,4,6,8

• Surgical 557

Prescriptions

We can fill prescriptions for over the counter pain medication and antibiotics at The Free Clinic of Southwest Washington. 

After the Clinic

After treatment, the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington (FCSW) will be responsible for the patient.  If the patient has any questions or concerns, they are asked to call the FCSW.

Ongoing Volunteer Feedback

To make your next volunteer experience a better one, we ask for your feedback.  If you would like to change anything about your experience, from scheduling, treatment, or instruments we can try and obtain them for you, please let us know what you need.