NIC Dental Hygiene students taking patients at new campus clinic

NIC Dental Hygiene student Isabella Morris works on a patient during a low-cost community clinic Sept. 1 at the new clinic in Winton Hall at NIC’s main campus in Coeur d’Alene.  

The North Idaho College Dental Hygiene program’s new community dental clinic is open to the public at NIC’s main campus in Coeur d’Alene. 

Patients are now being accepted for the program’s Fall 2022 clinics at the new campus clinic in Coeur d’Alene. The program is also taking on patients in Lewiston through the program’s partnership with Lewis-Clark State College. 

Open to adults and children, the clinics offer low-cost, quality dental hygiene care while helping trained dental hygiene students develop the hands-on skills needed to become registered dental hygienists.

The clinics are held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the new clinic in Winton Hall at 536 N. College Drive on NIC’s main campus in Coeur d’Alene. Services are by appointment and will be available through the end of the college’s Fall 2022 Semester in December.

The campus clinic is open for the first time this semester. Winton Hall, which used to house administrative offices, was remodeled this year to the fully functioning dental clinic that includes eight dental chairs, a cone beam and panoramic X-ray room, staff station, dental materials lab, faculty offices, classroom and a reception and waiting room. 

NIC Dental Hygiene Program Director Janis McClelland said the new clinical space is a big step forward for the new NIC program, which was established in 2020. Prior to the remodel, students were able to host evening clinics through a partnership with Heritage Health Dental Services in Coeur d’Alene.

And the clinics held in previous semesters were a success – students provided more than 250 treatments during two free sealant clinics in March alone.

“Just judging from our community participation in our public clinics last year, it’s clear that this program meets a huge need for the dental hygiene workforce in our region,” McClelland said. “We are so excited to share our students’ work at our new clinic on campus.”

During clinics, dental hygiene students are directly supervised by local dentists, hygienists and program instructors while they provide treatment to patients.

The cost for an appointment for prophylactic dental hygiene care – which includes a complete dental hygiene exam, X-rays, complete oral and periodontal assessments and the appropriate type of cleaning – is $25 for adults and $15 for children up to age 12, seniors and veterans. Periodontal maintenance costs $30; sealants cost $35; and sports guards cost $10. There is a $10 charge for nitrous, and radiographic referrals range from $10 to $30. 

For more information about clinics and to make an appointment, call (208) 929-4002 or email dhclinicnic@nic.edu in Coeur d’Alene; or call (208) 792-2930 or email dhclinicslcsc@nic.edu in Lewiston.   

NIC Dental Hygiene student Isabella Morris, left, discusses a patient’s care with local registered dental hygienist and clinic instructor Angie McDougall during a low-cost community clinic Sept. 1 at the new clinic in Winton Hall at NIC’s main campus in Coeur d’Alene. 

Photos by Elli Oba elli.oba@nic.edu 

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