Eastside Dental Clinic

Dental Clinic

The VAHS Dental Clinic is in its 15th year of operation. With the support of administrative staff and a full-time dentist, services are provided by dentists, hygienists, and assistants.

Our Dental Clinic offers preventative and urgent services to patients with little dental coverage; it is the lowest barrier option to address basic dental needs for people in the Lower Mainland.

Support our work

We are grateful for the generosity of our donors, and community members who make our operations possible.

Current operating hours

Dental Clinic (455 East Hastings St.)

Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM–4:00 PM

Closed Weekends and Holidays

Services are by appointment only (no walk-ins). Please contact the office to book an appointment. We halt intake once the maximum patient capacity has been reached.

Treatments offered

Emergency Exams for "CURRENT PATIENTS ONLY". Any other exam request from a Non-Paitnet will be treated as a "New Patient Exam" at the office.
Screenings and Assessments: exams (including emergency), cancer screenings, prescriptions, X-rays (including Panoramic), and CT Scans
Hygiene (cleanings, oral hygiene instructions)
Cosmetic treatments (teeth whitening)
Dental Fillings (white fillings ONLY) and Dental Sealants
Endodontic treatments (simple and complex root canals)
Simple/surgical extractions
Major restorative treatments (inlays and onlays, crowns, bridges, and veneers)
Nightguards & Sportguards
Sedation: Gas (Nitrous / Laughing Gas), IV sedation (for selective cases), Oral (Triazolam and Lorazepam)
Basic Orthodontic Services with Clear Aligners (SureSmile - similar to Invisalign)
First Not-For-Profit Clinic providing these services in the province
- Painless Dentistry - NO NEEDLE with SOLEA laser. First Not-For-Profit Clinic that provides these services in the province. Pain/needle-free fillings, crown lengthening, tissue recontouring, and hard/soft tissue management.

Treatments that we "DO NOT OFFER"

Metal fillings are no longer available at the office.
Full sedation
Orthodontic treatments with braces
Major gum surgeries
Full and partial dentures

Root canals and surgical treatments

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

General patient intake policy

Everybody is welcome. Any BC resident (indigenous and non-indigenous) as well as people from other provinces, countries, international visitors, and students.
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 budget 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 treatments.
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.
Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/dental/dental-care-plan.html). The Government of Canada / CRA will check eligibility and coverage, individuals are responsible for their registration and get familiar with the coverage percentage and services available.

Booking an appointment

The first appointment at the clinic will be a new patient exam, and we charge up to $170 CAD for exams, x-rays, and panoramic x-rays. Any other cost estimates will be given after the examination. We do not provide estimates over the phone or email.

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

Full legal name
Care card and/or coverage information
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) 48 hours before scheduled appointment. If confirmation is not given, the office will consider this as a potential no-show and will cancel the appointment.

Cancelling an appointment

48 Business/Working hours notice is needed for canceling or rescheduling appointments. There is a no-show or last-minute cancellation fee of $60 CAD (per hour of appointment) administrative charge at the next appointment or day of cancellation.

If two consecutive “no-shows" are recorded in our system, our office reserves the right to deny further appointments and 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.

Payment information

For full information, please contact our front desk.

Methods of payment include:

Debit or Credit Card (Visa, Amex, MasterCard). $ 0.25 CAD will be applied to every POS machine transaction.
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.
Some dental treatments might need a 50% deposit in advance to ensure appointment visits and commitment.
Despite that, we are a not-for-profit and we don't balance bills, if we enter into a "Financial Support Program" with our internal fees (lower than the private fee guide). It is the PATIENT'S responsibility to pay in full for those services.

Fee schedule for individuals under government programs:

If treatment has been provided and patients have given implied consent / visited facility / received treatment - consultation. We bill each government program without any exceptions.
It is the patient's responsibility to bring their IDs and any coverage information (Ministry, Status). We will not accept any patient without this information.
It is the patient's responsibility to cover any outstanding cost for treatments that are not covered under their respective programs. Especially those treatments where the office entered into a service agreement to go above and beyond the coverage and internal write-off for services.
Our office reserves the right to deny treatment beyond our office capacity and budget limitations.