Community Health Center

SCENIC RIVERS HEALTH SERVICES

20 5th St SE, Cook, MN 55723-9746

218-666-5102 Directions Website

SCENIC RIVERS HEALTH SERVICES is a community health center dental clinic in Cook, MN, operated by Cook Area Health Services, which runs 5 clinics in Minnesota.

The health center is open about 48 hours a week, though dental sessions are usually a subset of that.

Clinic Details

Address	20 5th St SE, Cook, MN 55723
Phone	218-666-5102
Operated by	Cook Area Health Services
Program	Health Center Program (federally funded)
Site schedule	Full-Time
Operating calendar	Year-Round

Planning Your Visit

20 5th St SE, Cook, MN 55723

The published number is 218-666-5102. 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 bands are set by Cook Area Health Services rather than nationally, which is why prices differ between two clinics on the same scale. 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 Minnesota 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

What if I need more work than I can afford?

Say that plainly at the start. A dentist who does not know the budget will quote the ideal plan. Told the constraint, they can usually say which item is urgent, which can wait a year, and where a cheaper option is clinically reasonable. Ask for the plan in writing so you can stage it.

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. Cook Area Health Services sets its own scale.

Can I be seen without insurance?

Yes. Being uninsured is the ordinary case at a clinic like this, not an exception, and it is much of the reason the sliding scale exists. Bring income documentation if you have it and ask what they accept if you do not.

Can they do specialist work here?

Providers in more than general dentistry are registered at this address, which is listed further up the page. That does not mean the clinic is taking new patients for those treatments or that they fall inside the discount, so name the treatment when you call.

Is there help if I do not speak English?

Health centers are required to provide language assistance and most have interpreting available, in person or by phone. Say which language you need when you book rather than on the day, so an interpreter can be arranged for the appointment.

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.

Size of the Dental Service

Cook Area Health Services provided 9,861 dental visits and 4,448 dental patients in 2025, with the equivalent of 16.9 full-time dental staff. This indicates an established dental service operating regular sessions, although appointment availability still varies by clinic and time of year.

Figures describe the operating organization as a whole, across all of its clinics.

Other Clinics Operated by Cook Area Health Services

Cook Area Health Services operates 4 other clinics in 4 other communities in Minnesota. 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

Straight-line distances. The nearest clinic is not reliably the one that can see you soonest, so try a couple.

SCENIC RIVERS HEALTH SERVICES — Cook, less than a mile away
SCENIC RIVERS HEALTH SERVICES — Tower, about 19.1 miles away

Confirmed Payment Options

Income-Based Fees

Call SCENIC RIVERS HEALTH SERVICES

Confirm current dental services, appointment availability, costs and accepted insurance directly with the clinic.

218-666-5102

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Community Health Center