Struggling to pay for dental care? CBC now offers help for Tri-Citians

Columbia Basin College’s new dental hygiene clinic is open for business in Richland and is able to take nearly twice as many patients..

The college celebrated moving into its new digs on the fourth floor of the Medical Science Center near Kadlec Regional Medical Center Friday.

The college has been working for nearly a year to make the 22-chair clinic ready to take low-income patients along with training the next generation of dental hygienists.

Before the move, the dental hygiene students treated 2,700 people each year.

Nearly everyone who walks into the college’s low-cost clinic live below the poverty line and don’t have insurance to cover the costs of regular check-ups.

Now college officials expect to serve 4,700 each year at the facility.

“This is so important to us to be able to serve these patients and to be able to continue to provide this service for our community,” CBC President Rebekah Woods. “It is an honor for us to be able to provide this service for the Tri-Cities.”

The clinic is one of just a few low-cost dental clinics in the Tri-Cities, and one of the only clinics to provide services for free, Woods said.

Laboratory, classrooms

The new location comes along with a dedicated laboratory, radiology and classroom spaces.

Students also said it allows them an easier and more efficient place to learn. They used to need to haul anesthetic from a separate location, had smaller spaces to sterilize equipment and had to share classrooms at the college.

The project started in 2017 with a colored-pencil drawing of what they would like in the class.

“There are so many people to thank for making this colored-pencil-dream a reality,” said Tammy Sanderson, the program’s director.

They received more than $500,000 in grants to help with moving the program from the Pasco campus to Richland.

They also received extra funding that allows students to go to rural low-income areas in the region to provide dental care.

The expansion opens up at least four more spots for students in the college’s bachelor’s program, which had room for 18 students, and nearly doubles the classroom space for teaching.

College officials consider 50 to 60 qualified applicants for the program each year, said Sanderson.

Anyone interested in making an appointment at the clinic can call 509-542-4571.