Free dental clinic coming again to Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — A free dental clinic next month will fill a need that often goes overlooked. 

“The thing that everybody (wants) is dentistry, because that’s the thing they can’t access,” said Linda Morgan, who organizes the clinic every year for the Moses Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church. “A lot of dentists will not accept Medicaid. It’s very, very hard to get in. That’s why dentistry is so needed.” 

The clinic will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, and Sunday, Aug. 10, taking Saturday off in between to observe the Sabbath. It will offer basic dental care: exams, X-rays, fillings, extractions and cleanings. It’s all provided at no charge; the expert work being done by volunteers that the church brings in. 

In past years, the clinic has relied on local volunteers, but this year there will be dentists from the University of Washington dental school and support staff – hygienists and assistants – from a school in the Tri-Cities, Morgan said. This year’s clinic has the most providers in the history of the event, she said. 

“The dental school is sending 10 dental students plus three faculty,” she said. 

Patients will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis, Morgan said. They’ll go through a nursing screening first, to check for high blood pressure, bleeding disorders and other conditions that might make the dental work risky. 

Besides the dental work, there will be free massage therapy and haircuts, both given by local professionals, and a vegetarian lunch provided by the church. 

Everything the dental clinic needs, including chairs, X-ray equipment, supplies and more, is provided by Caring Hands Worldwide, a Seventh-day Adventist ministry based in Oregon that holds clinics around the Northwest every year. The gym at Crestview Christian School, which is affiliated with the church, will be fitted out for the purpose. 

“It’s an amazing process,” Morgan said. “(CHW Director Randy Meyer) gets here usually Wednesday night and spends all day Thursday setting up the event.” 

Caring Hands Worldwide was created in 1994 by a group of dentists in Oregon, according to its website. It first came to Morgan’s attention in 2017. 

“I went to a missions conference, and (Meyer) was there, and he was sharing about how he has these dentist backers who have equipped him with all dental supplies so that he can be like a mobile dental (clinic),” Morgan said. “Within two weeks, I had a whole dental clinic set up.” 

When CHW first began offering the mobile dental clinics, there was no charge to the local organization, Morgan said, but with changes over the years in the organization’s leadership and backing, it now must charge for things like supplies and insurance. The church picks up most of the tab, Morgan said, although she’s also been able to get some grants to fill in the gaps. Anybody who would like to donate to help cover the costs is invited to reach out to the church, she said. 

About a third of Americans haven’t seen a dentist in the last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and about 27% of adult Washingtonians have no dental insurance, according to the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Even those who do have insurance often find it doesn’t pay for everything they need, making dental care a significant expense, especially for low-income patients. Morgan is in health care herself, she said, although as a midwife rather than in dentistry. But she’s seen the need for free care first-hand, she said.  

“I’ve done a lot of out-of-country mission work,” she said. “I have a heart for missions and for helping people, and when I was at that mission conference, my heart was like ‘We could do this’ … and God just really made it happen.” 

Seventh-day Adventist
Free Dental Clinic 
Friday, Aug. 8
Sunday, Aug. 10
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Moses Lake

Crestview Christian School 

1601 W. Valley Road

    Dentist Sam Minagawa, left, and assistant Lorinda Sheldon, perform dental work for a patient at the 2023 free dental clinic in Moses Lake. While past clinics have relied on local volunteers, this year’s will include dentists and support staff from the University of Washington and a school in the Tri-Cities, making for more providers than the church has ever brought in in the past.