Dental Clinic

The VAHS Dental Clinic is in its 13th year of operation. With the support of administrative staff and a full time dentist, services are provided by volunteer dentists, hygienists, assistants, and students. Our Dental Clinic offers preventative and urgent services to patients with little or no dental coverage; it is the lowest barrier option to address basic dental needs for people in the Lower Mainland.

Service changes due to COVID-19

We are currently only providing Emergent and Essential (urgent) care. Our dentists will determine which urgent services can be provided to patients at this time.

Please call or email the office for pre-screening. We will contact you to provide phone support or a potential appointment.

Current operating hours

We halt the daily intake once the maximum patient capacity has been reached. We follow provincial COVID-19 protocols and are performing pre-screenings over the phone.

Appointment only (no walk-ins). Please call or email the office to confirm the times.

Treatments offered

• Screenings (exams, cancer screening, x-rays, prescriptions)

• Hygiene (cleanings, oral hygiene instructions)

• Cosmetic treatments (teeth whitening)

• Basic treatments (fillings, sealants)

• Endodontic treatments (simple and complex root canals)

• Simple/surgical extractions

• Major restorative treatments (Inlays and Onlays, crowns, bridges, veneers) 

• Dentures and partial dentures, provided by a Denturist

• Nightguards

Treatments that we do not offer

• Full or gas sedation

• Orthodontic treatments

• Major gum surgeries

Root canals and surgical treatments

Not all root canal and surgical treatments are the same, therefore special considerations will be given to extremely complex extractions, re-treatment of root canals, highly complex multiple root canals, and apical chronic tooth infections.

General patient intake policy

• Everybody is welcome.

• Patients with dental coverage are asked to bring their IDs. No exceptions are granted. Examples of IDs: care card number, Indigenous status card, parole (ID card and officer's contact information), interim federal health program (IFHP-UCI #), healthy kids' program, dental insurance, etc.

• For patients without dental coverage, our Internal Fee Guide will be suggested at the time of the screening.

• Any patient's needs will be evaluated based on the Dental Clinic's daily capacity and budgetary limitations.

• We reserve the right to deny any treatment at any time. We practice Zero Tolerance to inappropriate behavior towards staff/volunteers and other patients.

• We reserve the right to screen patients and prioritize treatment.  

• We do not grant any type of preference to specific patients or treatments.  We are here to help and we help everybody as much as we can in the same way. 

Booking an appointment

Please call or email to book an appointment and provide the following information:

• Full legal name

• Care card and/or status card information, private insurance (mandatory for patients with this coverage)

• Phone number

• Email address

• Preferred contact method

Our office has an automated confirmation system; every patient will need to confirm their appointment either by Phone, Email or Text (no exceptions). If a confirmation is not given, the office will consider this as a potential no-show.  We will cancel the appointment. 

Cancelling an appointment

A 48-hour notice is needed for cancelling or rescheduling appointments. A no-show or last-minute cancellation will have a $50 CAD administrative charge on the next appointment. 

If two consecutive “no-shows" are recorded in our system, our office reserves the right to deny further appointments and to remove the patient from the waiting list. A formal dismissal letter will be sent either by mail or email to confirm this action.  This letter will follow the guidelines of local regulatory bodies. 

Waiting list

Currently, our office is booking 2-3 months in advance; it is highly recommended to put your name down on the list. We understand that some treatments might be urgent. Due to operational limitations and the high demands for services, we may not be able to fulfill all requests in a timely manner.

Payment information

For full financial information, please contact our front desk.

Methods of payment include:

• Debit/Credit Card (Visa, Amex, MasterCard)

• Cash

• Cheques issued to Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society
  (Memo: Dental Clinic payment)

• Online payments: Include Dental Clinic payment in the memo section. Please save the email confirmation as proof of payment.

Fee schedule for individuals under Income Assistance, Status, Refugees, Parole:

• We bill each government program without any exceptions.

• It is the patient's responsibility to bring their IDs and any coverage information. We will not accept any patient without this information.

• It is the patient's responsibility to cover, by donation, any outstanding cost for treatments that are not covered under their respective programs.

• Our office reserves the right to deny treatment beyond our office capacity and budgetary limitations.

Office forms

• Click HERE for Referral Form (PDF)
• Click HERE for Medical History Form (PDF)
• Click HERE for COVID-19 Form (PDF)