Make an appointment in March for relief if you lack money for dental care.

Sea Mar Community Health Centers will open a low-income dental clinic in Oak Harbor thanks to the efforts of local health care workers who recognized the need.

“We are thrilled,” said Caroline Lokkins, chair of the Dental Health Coalition.

It has been more than two-and-a-half years since adverse circumstances forced Whidbey General Hospital to close the dental clinic it ran for a short time in Oak Harbor. Volunteer dentists then tried to run the clinic but their own schedules were too full for them to handle the extra workload.

Meantime, low-income people who lack any type of dental coverage have been forced off the island, which adds more hardships. Transportation, extra expenses, child care and losing a day’s pay are just some of the problems, Lokkins said.

And people from Island County who show up on the doorsteps of neighboring county’s clinics aren’t a priority at clinics already dealing with heavy caseloads, she said.

It’s all about to change for Island County dwellers.

The nonprofit organization Sea Mar has signed a lease on a dental office in a part of the building at 31775 Highway 20 in Oak Harbor. The space was used by the health department last year, and earlier had been a private dental practice.

The clinic will primarily offer basic dental services that will include fillings and preventative care. Initially, the hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, said Dr. Alex Navaez, Dental Director for Sea Mar clinics.

Making the clinic a reality has involved help from a diverse group of supporters, including local dentists.

The Washington Dental Association has donated $45,000 to equip the clinic with two dental chairs and various X-ray equipment. When renovations are completed on the office and the equipment installed, the clinic could be ready to open as early as March 1, Narvaez said.

Narvaez said he is seeking federal aid to subsidize hiring a full-time dentist and to offset some of the gap between Medicaid payments and actual treatment costs.

Typically, about 60 to 70 percent of Sea Mar patients are on Medicaid, he said. For people who have no insurance, the so-called “working poor,” Sea Mar asks a $40 co-pay and works out affordable payments.

“While care isn’t free, we turn no one away,” Narvaez said.

The new clinic won’t affect low-income families who qualify for the state’s ABCD treatment program, run by the health department, for youngsters under 6 years old. The children are treated by nine local dentists enrolled in the program.

While the youngsters can get treatment, there has been little option for youth, teens and adults.

Camano and Whidbey islands have a total population of 77,000. Among adults, 36 percent lack dental insurance, 3 percent are covered by Medicaid, and 20 percent of children don’t have any dental coverage.

There are no Island County dentists in private practice currently accepting new adult Medicaid patients, the coalition noted in a letter sent Jan. 25, 2005, to Sea Mar and other community health care providers.

The Island County Health Department conducted a Smile Survey in 2000, which showed 10 percent of children hadn’t seen a dentist in a year or more.

Dr. Roger Case, the county’s medical director, said unattended tooth decay can lead to health problems.

“It’s the greatest overlooked health concern in our community,” Case said.

The Dental health Coalition sent out 19 appeal letters to community health organizations across the state, and received only two responses. One was Sea Mar.

“We are really enthusiastic about Sea Mar coming,” Case said.

Sea Mar was established in 1978 in Seattle to provide health care for low-income earners, the underserved and the uninsured, especially Latinos.

Sea Mar has now added 10 dental clinics to the range of health services it provides across the state.

“We are open to everyone,” Narvaez said.