Community Health Center
Dental Center
1048 Union St, Bangor, ME 04401-8601 1.7 miles away
Community Health Center
Downeast School - PCHC Dental
100 Moosehead Blvd, Bangor, ME 04401-2398
Downeast School - PCHC Dental is a community health center dental clinic in Bangor, ME, operated by Penobscot Community Health Center, which runs 3 clinics in Maine.
The health center is open about 3.8 hours a week and may run only one or two days, so dental appointments are scarce.
Access to This Clinic
This clinic is located inside a school. School-based health center sites typically serve enrolled students, and in some cases their families or the surrounding community. Access is determined jointly by the school and the health center. Contact the clinic before visiting to confirm whether patients who are not students can be seen.
This clinic operates seasonally. Seasonal sites often serve agricultural communities and close outside their operating season. Confirm that the clinic is currently open before visiting.
Clinic Details
| Address | 100 Moosehead Blvd, Bangor, ME 04401 |
|---|---|
| Phone | 207-941-6240 |
| Operated by | Penobscot Community Health Center |
| Program | Health Center Program (federally funded) |
| Setting | School |
Planning Your Visit
100 Moosehead Blvd, Bangor, ME 04401
The published number is 207-941-6240. It may be a shared scheduling line. Say which site you mean and that you want dental rather than medical, or you can be booked into the wrong queue.
Things to settle on the phone first: the dental hours, and which days appointments run, whether new dental patients are being taken, and the current wait, what a first visit costs, before and after any discount, whether your insurance or Medicaid dental plan is accepted, by plan name, and what to bring for the sliding fee application.
Dental Services
This clinic has not published a list of the treatments it provides. Expect the routine treatments to be available. The question worth asking is about the expensive ones: root canals, dentures and oral surgery are handled in house at some health centers and referred out at others.
Costs and Coverage
Charges are set against household income and household size rather than a fixed fee schedule. The scale belongs to Penobscot Community Health Center, not to a national schedule, so the only reliable figure is the one they give you. Ask them to run your household through it before you commit to a treatment plan. Our guide to applying for the discount lists the documents to bring.
No Medicaid registration has been recorded for this clinic, which is not the same as Medicaid being refused. What Maine Medicaid covers for adults is a state decision and has been cut and restored in several states; for children the benefit is required nationally. The Medicaid dental page covers how to check yours.
Common Questions
Is the discount worked out on gross income or take-home pay?
Normally gross, before tax and deductions, which surprises people who budget by what lands in the account. Ask which figure this clinic uses and over what period, because a year that included a few months of higher earnings can put you in a band that does not reflect what you have now.
Is treatment free?
Usually not, though it can come close. Clinics like this one discount by household income and are required to see patients regardless of ability to pay, but a charge normally applies and the lowest band is a nominal fee rather than nothing. Penobscot Community Health Center sets its own scale.
Do they do root canals, or would I be referred out?
This is the question worth asking before anything else if you already know you need one. Health centers commonly do extractions in-house and refer root canals to a private endodontist at full price, which changes the arithmetic completely. Ask before you start treatment, not after.
Does my partner’s income count?
If you share a household, generally yes, and household size counts in your favor at the same time — the scale reads income against the number of people it supports. Say who lives with you and who depends on that income, rather than giving a single figure and letting them assume.
How do they work out what I pay?
From your household income and family size, checked against a scale the clinic sets itself. That is why a quote from another clinic tells you nothing about this one. Our guide to applying for the discount lists the documents to take.
Can I get dentures here?
Many health centers do dentures, and the discount can make them dramatically cheaper than private practice. The catch is laboratory costs, which are often billed on top of the discounted fee and are the bulk of the price. Ask for the total including laboratory work.
Other Clinics Operated by Penobscot Community Health Center
Penobscot Community Health Center operates 2 other clinics in 2 other communities in Maine. Asking the scheduling line which site can see you soonest is usually faster than calling each in turn; the shortest wait is not always the closest clinic. Once your discount is assessed at one of its sites, the others normally honor it without a second application. What is treated at one site is no guide to another, so confirm with the clinic you actually intend to visit.
Other Dental Clinics Nearby
These are straight-line distances. Two clinics a mile apart can have very different waits, so it is worth calling both.
- Dental Center — Bangor, about 1.7 miles away
- HELEN HUNT HEALTH CENTER — Old Town, about 10.7 miles away
- BUCKSPORT REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER — Bucksport, about 18.3 miles away
- Katahdin Valley Health Center Dover Foxcroft — Dover Foxcroft, about 31.3 miles away
Confirmed Payment Options
Income-Based Fees
Call Downeast School - PCHC Dental
Confirm current dental services, appointment availability, costs and accepted insurance directly with the clinic.
Nearby Affordable Dental Clinics
Community Health Center
HELEN HUNT HEALTH CENTER
242 Brunswick St, Old Town, ME 04468-1613 10.7 miles away
Community Health Center
BUCKSPORT REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER
110 Broadway, Bucksport, ME 04416-4612 18.3 miles away
Community Health Center
Katahdin Valley Health Center Dover Foxcroft
188 Summer St, Dover Foxcroft, ME 04426-1129 31.3 miles away
Before you call
