About Us

Lakeside Dental Clinic has been serving Nanaimo with care since 1988. We started in Rutherford Mall and moved to our current location in 1994. We are on the Island Highway beside the Long Lake Inn in the Lakeside Centre. We are easy to find and easy to get to.

Our reputation has always focused on patient comfort and incorporating recent advances that dentistry has to offer. We have become known for aesthetic dentistry as well as restoring badly broken down smiles and bites.

Our office expanded in 2004 with the addition of the Vancouver Island Implant Centre. This addition has allowed us to provide a higher level of dental implant treatment for our patients. We do get many referrals from other offices and we are happy to work with your dentist or denturist if you wish. However, you do not need a referral to see us for your Dental Implant needs. Feel free to call us for a consultation and we will explain everything before we do anything. Dr. Robert Wolanski has 26 years experience placing Dental Implants. Whether you are young or just young at heart, implants are the most natural way to replace missing teeth.

To visit the VIIC website, please go to: vancouverislandimplantcentre.com

Meet our team

Dr. Robert William Wolanski - General Dentist / Owner

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta

What Dentistry Means to Me? To me dentistry simply means helping people attain better health and avoid more serious complications of pain and infection. I also enjoy meeting new people and working with the best team on the island.

Activities / Hobbies: When I am not in the office you can find me out on the water boating, fishing or scuba diving. Don’t be surprised to run into me wearing coveralls around town either if I have been working on my excavator.

Volunteer Work: I am a current board member of the Vancouver Island University Foundation, Director on the Board of the BC Dental Association, and was grateful to join Access and the Semiahmoo Dental Outreach in Kenya with my wife in June of 2017.

Michele - Administrative Team Manager

Hometown: Port Alberni, BC

What Dentistry Means to me: My first memory of going to the dentist was when I was about ten years old and I was playing tetherball. I banged my mouth on the metal pole and chipped my front tooth. My mouth was really sore and I was rushed to a dental office. My chipped tooth was restored and consequently restored various times since then through the years. I recall always enjoying my dental visits and picking out a ring at the end of my visit was the best! I always received excellent care and found the dental office atmosphere positive, caring, friendly and welcoming. There was no question that when I grew up I wanted to be a part of that, and now here I am . I love helping to make our patients’ dental visits as positive as mine always were.

Activities / Hobbies: Running, camping, other outdoor activities and spending time with my family.

Jess - Treatment Coordinator / Receptionist

Hometown: Nanaimo, B.C.

What dentistry means to m: I love being able to help people achieve happy healthy smiles!

Activities / Hobbies: Running and hiking

Kim - Dental Hygienist

What Dentistry Means to Me: I enjoy helping people and making them happy. What better way than to improve their oral health and therefore their smile!

Activities / Hobbies: Running, hiking (night trail running), movies, reading, travelling, spin class and biking.

Other things about me: I commute a few times a week for work and will continue to do so as long as Lakeside Dental will have me. Love this office and the fabulous team.

“Flossing is your friend!”

Cheri - Clinical Team Manager / Senior Certified Dental Assistant

Hometown: Nanaimo, B.C.

What Dentistry Means to Me: I have always enjoyed helping people and dentistry gives me the opportunity to do just that. Whether I am helping someone who is in discomfort or helping someone regain their confidence through a brand new smile. I have had the pleasure of being part of the Lakeside team for 15 years now and in these years have learned so much about people, my profession and myself. I feel lucky to be part of this amazing team and hope to continue along this path. Wear a smile – one size fits all!

Activities / Hobbies: Running, cooking and anything involving my kids.

Heather - Senior Certified Dental Assistant

Home Town: Taber, Alberta

Team Member Role: Implant and Sedation Assistant.

What Dentistry Means to Me: I enjoy helping people and changing their lives by improving their smiles. While assisting Dr. Wolanski, I get to see first hand the transformation from the before to the after. I am grateful that the work we do helps to improves the confidence of our patients. Gives me something to smile about.

Activities / Hobbies: If I am not at Moksha Yoga or the gym, you might find me walking my dog Bailey. I love being outdoors, so I do spend a lot of time boating and camping, especially when the sun is out.

I enjoy working with people, I love my job and working with the team at Lakeside Dental Clinic.

“I have been a CDA for 12 years and every year gets better. All the new information and technologies make practising dentistry fun and exciting. Also, I just finished my medical lab training and I am excited to implement my training in office.”

Chloe - Certified Dental Assistant

Home Town: Ladysmith, BC

What Dentistry Means to Me: My mom took the Dental Assisting course as well and I was always with my mom at the orthodontist office where she worked, so I felt like it was meant to be.

Activities / Hobbies: Spending time at the beach.

Community Involvment

Dr. Wolanski and his team’s involvement with community development has been a source of gratitude and inspiration for 30 years. Here is a list of some of the groups they have worked with and supported:

Dr. Wolanski has been a Foster Parent to 4 children over the past 20 years.

Community Dental Health Day, providing free dentistry for the needy every year since the program began in 2001.

Project Reef founding member, which created the artificial reefs here in Nanaimo, including financing the sinking of the former HMCS Saskatchewan.

Provided Thanksgiving turkeys, which he raised on his farm, to numerous groups such as Salvation Army and the Nanaimo Woman’s Shelter.

Vancouver Island University, current Foundation Board Member and also assists with clinical supervision of the Dental Hygiene Program.

ETRA – Therapeutic Riding Association – which provides a beneficial method of improving the physical and/or mental well-being of riders with a wide range of disabilities.

BC Children’s Hospital Foundation

Loaves and Fishes

CNIB

Wheelchair Basketball Association of BC

SPCA

United Way

Nanaimo Port Theatre

Ducks Unlimited