University of California at Los Angeles, School of Dentistry

The School of Dentistry is committed to providing care to underserved populations. Since 1969, it has provided oral health care to underserved populations through its Venice Dental Center and by partnering with other hospitals, clinics, and centers in Venice, West Hollywood, Northeast San Fernando Valley and in downtown Los Angeles.

The UCLA Venice Dental Center is a dental school-owned and managed community-oriented clinic. It provides comprehensive dental care to an ethnically diverse, low-income population from Venice and the surrounding areas. Over the years, it has grown from a five-chair storefront unit to a 20-chair state-of-the-art facility that handles more than 15,000 patient visits annually. The Center serves as a major provider of dental care for low-income families in the western part of Los Angeles.

Project Activities
Over the next four years, the School of Dentistry will:

1. Provide 60 days of community-based dental experiences for predoctoral/AEGD students
2. Change predoctoral programs in the Venice Dental Center and establish clinical facilities in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and in Riverside County.
3. Collaborate with an urban American Indian program in Los Angeles and two rural American Indian programs in Central and Southern California to provide patient-centered care to Latino and American Indian residents.
4. Revise current courses to emphasize community-based practice, patient-centered care, and policy issues.
5. Design two new courses on management, behavioral and treatment issues in community-based practices.
6. Establish and sustain a program of mentoring and counseling that addresses the academic and social support needs of disadvantaged dental students.
7. Recruit and retain twice the current number of disadvantaged students in compliance with state and university regulations.
8. Double the current disadvantaged student applicant pool to the School.
9. Identify four key policy issues affecting community-based education, disadvantaged student recruitment and retention, oral health disparities, and access to care.
10. Develop policy recommendations and communicate them to dental associations, public health and community organizations, and the general public.