Perhaps you’ve seen the big red motor coach parked outside the Bellingham Food Bank (BFB) every month or so. Have you wondered about it? It’s a mobile dental clinic, providing services for people with no other access.
The clinic, a program of Medical Teams International (MTI), is staffed by a small team of volunteers, including “retired” dentists Marc Fairbanks and Scott Jones, assisted by dental assistants Parker Barbo and Julie Gibboney.
Patient intake is handled by a team of volunteers from First Congregational Church of Bellingham (FCCB), including local veterinarian Kris Johnson and Bill Liddicoet, retired marketing executive and former president of Fairhaven Neighbors. Johnson, Liddicoet, Carol Gurguile, Anne Brody-Knopf, and Diane Bateman Cortez do intake on clinic days. “This is a way I can give back to the community that supported my practice for so many years,” says Fairbanks.
For now, the clinic only does extractions and fillings, procedures that prioritize patients experiencing dental pain and don’t require follow-up visits. They want to do cleanings and preventive care, but need dental hygienists to volunteer to provide those services. “It’s first-come, first served,” Johnson says. They try to make sure that all patients in pain get seen while the clinic is available, but triage is not always possible with patients arriving throughout the day.
Dental Care Is Essential
“We believe in treating everyone with dignity,” Liddicoet says, “and there isn’t a whole lot of dignity in sitting in a hot parking lot all day. Most patients have mobile phones, and we give them an estimate of their appointment time and text them when it’s getting close, so they can go wait somewhere comfortable or get on with their day.” Many patients speak limited English, and the volunteers use Google Translate to text patients in their own language when their turn is coming soon. “It would really help if we had volunteers who can speak Spanish or Ukrainian,” Johnson says.
“Dental care is essential,” Johnson says. “People need to sleep and eat — those are the basic things you need to be safe, and dental pain can take both of those away.” It’s common for patients who have lacked regular dental care to have all their teeth extracted so they can get dentures.
“Scheduling volunteers is a big challenge,” Dr. Fairbanks says. The Bellingham Technical College (BTC) dental hygiene program sends volunteers to the Opportunity Council’s East Whatcom Regional Resource Center in Maple Falls on Fridays. Most of the time, BTC’s prospective volunteers are at school or work.
Volunteering after retirement has its own challenges. Dr. Fairbanks must maintain his professional certification, which means taking continuing professional education classes and paying his license fees. Dental hygienists must also maintain certification to volunteer.
MTI provides orientation and training for all their volunteers. “It’s a process,” Dr. Fairbanks says. “You can’t just show up on clinic day and offer to help.” Links are provided at the end of this article for people who are interested in volunteering.
Much like the better-known Doctors Without Borders, MTI responds to famines, wars, and natural disasters around the world. In the US Pacific Northwest, MTI operates a fleet of 40-foot motor coaches outfitted as mobile clinics, to provide medical and dental services to people who have no other access to care. MTI mobile clinics serve migrant worker villages, places that have experienced natural disasters, and counties with a high percentage of unhoused people. Dr. Fairbanks learned about MTI when he was invited to volunteer at a clinic for migrant workers.
Bellingham Food Bank Sponsorship
To use MTI mobile clinics, you need a sponsoring partner organization to pay the cost of using the mobile clinic, and a volunteer team to staff the clinic. Bellingham is fortunate to have the BFB as a partner. Our local MTI volunteer team would like more partners so the clinic can go to more locations, perhaps out to eastern Whatcom County more often where the need is great. A few years ago, there was one dentist serving the entire Mount Baker School District—that’s 16,000 people. People in underserved areas need to be able to travel to see a dentist.
The first MTI dental clinic was held at First Congregational Church, which Fairbanks, Liddicoet and Johnson all attend. Shortly after, the BFB stepped up to keep it going.
The BFB uses funds from its operating budget to pay the fee for the mobile dental clinic. “This clinic could not have happened without the serendipitous timing of Dr. Fairbanks’ retirement,” Bill Liddicoet says. “He did his first clinic the day after his retirement party.”
Since June of 2022, the BFB has hosted 18 clinics, and served 179 patients with a total procedure value of more than $86,000.
Who Can Use the Mobile Clinic?
Anyone who needs care can come; no one is turned away. They are limited by the number of patients they can see while the clinic is there. “Aging Boomers are losing their employer-provided dental insurance; that’s a big part of the demographic we’re seeing now.” Liddicoet wishes they collected more data on their patient base so they could advocate effectively.
When the mobile clinic is coming, the BFB advertises on Facebook and Instagram, and with flyers handed out at the Food Bank.
A Personal Touch
The volunteer team tries to make the clinics a fun and positive experience.
“I love talking with the people,” says Johnson. “Everyone has a story, and some of these people are isolated; they don’t get the opportunity to have conversations.” Many patients have anxiety about treatment, especially people with mental health issues, but dental pain is so debilitating and they are so eager to get help, they can usually overcome their fear. Johnson enjoys reassuring anxious patients.
The enthusiasm of the volunteer team shines through. “I think when you really connect with people, the benefits flow both ways,” Dr. Fairbanks says. Johnson adds, “You see people getting off buses coming to the clinic, and they’re grinning because they’re so happy to know their pain will be gone soon.”
A Patient’s Story
Terry Bell uses the MTI dental clinic and offered to share her story. Retired and on Medicare Part C (which does not include a dental plan), Bell needs surgery on both shoulders, and during her presurgical exam, blood testing revealed that two teeth were infected and needed to be pulled. Oral infections can cause complications during surgery and make the heart less stable under anesthesia, so that had to be dealt with before the surgery could be scheduled. Bell tried to use Unity Care and SeaMar’s clinics, but they no longer take walk-ins; you must be a clinic patient already to use their dental services. A longtime friend of the Fairbanks family, Bell found relief through Dr. Fairbanks and the MTI mobile clinic. She got two extractions and two fillings, then a previously treated abscess returned. She still needs care, but there are no clinics scheduled until September due to a shortage of volunteers, especially dental assistants.
How Can I Help?
This great community service needs your help! If you’re a dental professional, active or retired, please consider volunteering. MTI provides volunteer orientation. Your certifications must be current. If you are not a dental professional but would like to help with intake, you can sign up with MTI. Volunteers who speak additional languages besides English are especially needed.
If you’d like to donate money, you can so so through the Bellingham Food Bank; specify in your comments that the donation is to support the mobile dental clinic. You can also make general donations to the Food Bank’s operating budget via this link. Or, donate directly to MTI to help support all their programs.
