In the Pacific, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operates dental clinics that are promoting oral health and greater self-reliance by providing dental care first to full-time missionaries, then to those preparing to serve, Church school students and then the public.
Three dental clinics are on Church-operated high school campuses. All are staffed by volunteers.
The Church owns and operates the clinics on the campuses of Pesega High School in Apia, Samoa, and Liahona High School in Nuku‘alofa, Tonga. In Kiribati, the clinic is located on the Moroni High School campus but is owned by Charity Vision, a nonprofit organization based in Utah.
The primary focus of these clinics is to support Missionary Department needs. The secondary focus is to help the country become self-reliant. In 2025, the Church’s humanitarian strategy for the Pacific Area placed dental self-reliance at the heart of health initiatives.
For the area, that meant empowering communities to lead their own dental care efforts through teaching dental hygienist courses to young adults in the area.
Sister Amy Martin, health adviser of the Marshall Islands/Kiribati Mission, assists in teaching the advanced function dental hygienist training to clinic volunteers.
The training discusses anatomy, medical emergencies, public health and oral pathology. Students also participate in assigned projects to increase community outreach.
One project led by the students was the implementation of a program to teach elementary students about oral health. The students created video presentations, songs and demonstrations and used toothbrushes as prizes to promote oral hygiene education to over 1,000 students.
In a news release on the Church‘s Pacific Area Newsroom, Sister Gale Couch, a full-time senior missionary serving as a Pacific Area dental specialist, spoke on how offering dental hygienist training is helping to create a self-reliant community.
“We want to educate the community so these young adults have a desire to go into this field so that then they can give back and support their community and provide for their families,” said Sister Couch. “It really is full circle.”
Serving alongside Sister Couch, Elder Bill Couch is a seasoned dentist. He explained how oral health touches all aspects of overall health. He mentioned that pain and infection in the mouth can have significant effects on a person’s emotional well-being as well as other areas of physical health.
In the news release, patients said having their teeth cleaned has been a blessing in their lives.
These clinics in the Pacific have created more opportunities for receiving the help and needed treatment. The clinic at Moroni High School has five chairs for hygiene, whereas the local hospital dental clinic only has one.
At the Pacific Dental Conference held in Fiji in August 2025, Arama Puriri, the Church’s Pacific Area welfare and self-reliance manager, said the clinics are not just about fixing teeth, but are about creating resilience.
“A village with access to dental care is healthier, stronger and more self-reliant,” said Puriri at the conference. “We stop. We see. We serve.”
