Iris Han, BS, Robert Virata, BS, and Cathy Ai, BS. School of Dentistry, University of California Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90095, 3109485220, ihan@ucla.edu

80% of tooth decay is found in only 25% of children. 52 million hours of school are lost each year due to tooth decay. While this represents a vast improvement in oral health compared to children a generation ago, decay remains one of the most prevalent diseases affecting disadvantaged and minority children due to the lack of awareness of the importance and decreased access to care. Californian Dental Outreach Care (CalDOC) based from the UCLA School of Dentistry is a children’s program with focus groups in the Lennox, Venice, and Chinatown districts. Subgroups follow same goals and combine efforts at a student-operated, faculty-covered Saturday clinic. CalDOC is dedicated to overcoming barriers of access to care for children by providing low-cost comprehensive dental care and education. CalDOC has reached out to over 10,000 children through elementary school visits, utilizing the “tell, show, do” method, dental-health fairs, and clinics. In one year, 50% of UCLA dental students donated 3,000 volunteer hours. Not only does this foster long-term partnerships between UCLA and the community, it also nurtures a culturally competent health professional and promotes awareness of cultural issues impacting dental care in an ever-increasing multi-cultural community Through early intervention, education, and treatment, CalDOC hopes to reduce the impact of oral disease while increasing the importance of oral hygiene in the underserved community. Our partnership with the community provides opportunities for individuals to work together to improve oral health; together we can help eliminate health disparities, and thus increase quality of healthy life.

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