You may have just missed yesterday’s Taco Friday, but there’s another one on the horizon this spring in Friday Harbor, Washington.

Team Taco prepares hundreds of fish tacos each time Team Tooth is on the scene in its dental van. Why?

All this goodness was cooked up by one San Juan Island commercial fisherman’s desire to

Matt Marinkovich was hooked on helping after a young girl showed him her mouth full of cavities.

help. Fish for Teeth, created in 2007 by Matt Marinkovich, is driven by the mission of working cooperatively with the commercial fishing industry, local dental professionals, public and private health agencies, and caring community members to provide dental care, treatment, and prevention for those who otherwise cannot afford such services.

According to fishforteeth.com, Marinkovich was hooked on helping after a young girl showed him her mouth full of cavities.

“She just came up to me out of the blue and asked me if I wanted to see her cavities,” said Marinkovich.  “She had a lot of cavities in there!”

After years of slow progress, the Fish for Teeth Board of Directors, comprised of local fishermen and dentists, discovered the Medical Teams International Mobile Dental Van.  “The combination of commercial fishermen working with dentists blows right through the red tape and gets us working on teeth right away,” says Marinkovich.  “If there’s somebody that needs dental care, and doesn’t have the money to fix it, THAT is who we want to help.” 

Let’s talk tacos.

Each time the Fish for Teeth Taco Team prepares super-sized snacks (made with Alaskan Rockfish harvested from healthy, well-managed stocks of fish) the entire profit of the $7 per taco venture goes toward bringing the “ToothMobile,” a mobile dental van provided by Medical Teams International, to San Juan Island.  These efforts takes place each January, May and June. Contact fishforteeth@rockisland.com to offer help.

Another lifeboat effort: Fish for Teeth @fishforteeth also supports a Sealant Program with the goal of “sealing the teeth of every second grader on San Juan Island.” (Sealants happen in May, so if you know a second-grade-age children on the island,  please make them aware of the program).  Details: The van cost is around $1,000.  Money can also be donated toward an exam.  Each child needs an exam and updated x-rays in order to qualify for free sealants.

Want to share your time and talent with  Team Tooth? Connect with Michael Horn DDS at: https://www.fishforteeth.com/#!team-tooth/c1imn

Want to donate? 
https://www.fishforteeth.com/#!donate/c1t54

When he’s not volunteering his time, Marinkovich graciously provides video tips for cleaning and filleting salmon: https://www.mattsfreshfish.com/#!/c1jh6 (Not for the faint of heart. It’s right up there with a dentist extracting his own tooth and placing the implant.)

How many fishy figure of speech will it take? Stop reading and get involved!