Harborview scales back outpatient dental clinic

Harborview Medical Center notified patients Wednesday that it will stop providing most general dental services effective today, suddenly leaving one fewer outpatient dental clinic for people without insurance.

Services at Harborview's Oral Surgery Clinic — which handles most of the region's serious dental needs for indigent patients — will continue unchanged.

But Harborview, a leading trauma hospital owned by King County and operated by the University of Washington, has decided that general dentistry did not fit in with its core mission, said Meg Kerrigan, Harborview's associate administrator.

Instead, it will focus on specialty oral surgery and limit general dental services only to patients with specific medical conditions and those referred from Harborview's medical clinic in Pioneer Square, among others.

No existing appointments will be canceled, and patients in the middle of a dental procedure, such as fitting for dentures, will be allowed to finish their treatments, Kerrigan said.

The decision worries managers of community dental clinics.

"There is such a shortage of dental care for uninsured adults," said Mark Secord whose nonprofit Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers operates five dental clinics.

Options for dental patients without private insurance have been disappearing for years as providers such as Pacific Medical Centers have pulled out of the dental business, Secord said.

At the same time, Secord said he was relieved that Harborview's oral-surgery services will be unaffected.

Few oral surgeons work for community dental clinics, so Harborview is virtually the only option for people who can't afford root canals and other extensive dental treatments.

Kyung Song: 206-464-2423 or ksong@seattletimes.com

A headline on an earlier version of this story incorrectly said Harborview Medical Center had closed its outpatient dental clinic. It will continue to operate its Oral Surgery Clinic, providing some general dentistry services to certain patients with certain medical conditions, and will honor existing appointments and treat those who are in the middle of dental procedures, and those referred from its Pioneer Square clinic.