UCLA School of Dentistry Gets $9 Million from First 5 LA to Increase Dental Care Access for Infants

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Posted: July 18, 2012
The UCLA School of Dentistry has received major new funding to help improve
the oral health of children in underserved populations. First 5 LA, the
child advocacy and grant-making organization, awarded the UCLA School of
Dentistry and its partners $9 million to increase access to dental care for
Los Angeles children from birth to age 5.

This funding is in response to an urgent need for improved oral health care
for children living in areas with large population groups such as Latinos
and African Americans who are at high-risk for early dental disease. Despite
improvements in oral health care, millions of children continue to
experience tooth decay and its consequences, including pain, infection and
loss of teeth, which can result in problems with eating, sleeping and
learning.  

UCLA has engaged several key partners to collaborate in this initiative –
the Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles, the Community Clinic Association of
Los Angeles County, Safety Net Solutions and the Sesame Workshop. This group
of organizations will work with 10 to 12 community clinics in the Greater
Los Angeles area to establish a "dental home" model of care for young
children. The services provided will be delivered in a continuously
accessible and family-centered way by licensed dentists and other health
care providers.

Called the First 5 LA 21st Century Community Dental Homes Project, its major
objectives will be to not only deliver quality dental care to young children
but to increase parents' and child care providers' awareness of the
importance of oral health care for preschool children and develop a
sustainable community "dental home" model of care for these children.

Health care disciplines including dentistry, public health and pediatric and
family medicine have all recognized that providing ongoing oral health care
to children, beginning in the first year of life, leads to overall improved
health and lower dental-related health care costs throughout childhood and
adolescence. However, only a small fraction of infants and preschool
children in the U.S. receives the recommended dental services needed to lead
a healthy life.

"Because the need for ongoing oral health care for young children is so
critical in L.A. County, First 5 LA is pleased to invest in UCLA's
collaborated efforts to reach those most in need of this program," says
Craig A. Steele, interim chief executive officer of First 5 LA. "This
funding supports our mission to increase the number of young children who
are physically and emotionally healthy, safe and ready to learn."

Dr. James J. Crall, professor and chair of the division of public health and
community dentistry at the UCLA School of Dentistry and a member of the UCLA
Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, will serve as
project director of the oral health care initiative.

"Improving oral health care for young children requires innovative
collaborative approaches that address challenges to delivering accessible,
quality care in diverse communities," Crall said.

No-Hee Park, dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry, said: "As a prototype for
community-based systems of oral health care, this project promises to bring
about preventative and lasting improvements in oral health, not only in the
Los Angeles community but eventually at national and global scales as well."

The UCLA School of Dentistry is dedicated to improving the oral health of
the people of California, the nation and the world through its teaching,
research, patient care and public service initiatives. The school provides
education and training programs that develop leaders in dental education,
research, the profession and the community; conducts research programs that
generate new knowledge, promote oral health and investigate the cause,
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of oral disease in an individualized
disease-prevention and management model; and delivers patient-centered oral
health care to the community and the state.
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