Linquist Dental Clinic for Children
Gig Harbor Kiwanis Partners with Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children to Provide Healthy Smiles
Tooth decay is preventable and
treatable! Gig Harbor Kiwanis partners
with Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children (LDCC), through funding and community
outreach, to ensure that all Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula children in need have
access to an on-going, affordable dental home. In October 2009, LDCC opened its 3-chair dental clinic in
the Gig Harbor Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound’s HOPE Center (next
to Henderson Bay High School) which provides a full array of dental services to
South Sound children in need, ages 0 through 18. No child is turned away due to inability to pay!
Gig Harbor Kiwanis donates to LDCC’s
Uncompensated Care Scholarship Fund, which enables LDCC to provide dental care
to Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula children who might not otherwise receive quality
dental care. Gig Harbor Kiwanis and
LDCC are also actively working together to spread the word about this local community
resource, so that all children receive dental care regardless of their
families’ socio-economic background.
LDCC provides brochures, oral hygiene
kits, and staffing for Gig Harbor Kiwanis “Gear Up for School” backpack
distribution program. “This
is a win-win community partnership,” states Abbe Salk, Director of LDCC’s
Community Outreach. “Gig Harbor
Kiwanis actively and consistently engage with children and families that can
benefit from our affordable dental services. We truly appreciate your support and the opportunity to
increase communications about the importance of good oral hygiene and an
on-going dental home.”
Effective preventive, restorative, or endodontic treatment, as well as oral hygiene education at each patient contact:
- Creates a healthy smile
- Minimizes long term dental and medical care costs
- Minimizes dental disease which can lead to serious illness
- Prevents children from missing school
- Boosts a child’s overall health, confidence, and well-being
- Helps a child reach their full potential!
Founded in 1936, LDCC is a private,
nonprofit organization dedicated to providing accessible, compassionate, and
effective dental care to South Sound children in need, ages 0 through 18. LDCC offers a full array of affordable dentistry services, including preventive, restorative, and endodontic treatment in three dental clinics throughout the South Puget Sound region, as well as a Dental Outreach program.
LDCC’s three clinic locations include: Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula (3-chairs located within the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound HOPE Center behind Gig Harbor High School); Parkland (10-chairs and administrative offices); and South Tacoma (6-chairs, located in a BGCSPS Hope Center).
LDCC’s Dental Outreach program coordinates with schools and community agencies ‘to go to where the children in greatest need are’ to provide dental screenings, fluoride varnishes, and sealants.
By leveraging community resources through a variety of partnerships, such as with the Gig Harbor Kiwanis, LDCC has grown from providing 12,065 patient visits in 2008 to over 34,000 patient visits in 2011, all to children from low-income families.