The Children's Dental Center
The Children's Dental Center represents the realization of a vision: to create a place where children of the working poor can receive the best possible dental treatment in a caring and nurturing environment. The vision was prompted by statistics that reveal dentistry as the number-one health need of our children. For many children of the working poor, dental care is considered a luxury that can be forgone to help make ends meet. Families with parents who have low-wage jobs often have incomes exceeding poverty guidelines, making them ineligible for free clinics and Denti-Cal. Yet, their places of employment may not provide dental insurance or pay enough to afford private care.
The Children's Dental Center provides a solution
--a state-of-the-art facility where children can receive treatment for $25 per visit. With private financial contributions and collaborative arrangements with local dental schools, The Center offers basic dental care and services in the specialty areas of orthodontics, endodontics, and oral and dental surgery. Quite remarkably, The Center provides these services in clean, modern offices with the
latest innovative technologies, including a computerized treatment and education program.
Today, The Children's Dental Center gives families a unique opportunity to obtain quality dental care for children who would not otherwise have access; gives university dental students training in multi-disciplinary care; and gives families assurance of their children's well-being. The existence of The Center strengthens the community which it serves. As The Center looks to the future, it hopes to increase its program of outreach, education, screening, and treatment for the children of our community.
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Improving Access to Dental Care
The Children's Dental Center opened its doors in December 1995 in Inglewood. With a grant of $110,000 from the Weingart Foundation, The Center was able to complete a major renovation of its facilities to better serve the community. The 4,108 square foot building includes 10 treatment rooms, x-ray equipment, laboratory, visitor's lounge, and lobby. During the inaugural year of service, over 3,700 children were served.
In addition, families are offered a comprehensive education program emphasizing preventive
dentistry and nutrition. The Center proves that
a child's dental visit can be a positive and happy event!