BY THE NUMBERS
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SANTA CRUZ >> On March 27, Dientes Community Dental Care and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education are teaming up to reach children who have not been able to get to the dentist during the pandemic.
The institutions are hosting their first joint multi-school district outreach day at the Dientes Main Clinic in Santa Cruz (1830 Commercial Way). The event, meant to address the needs of lowincome children from kindergarten to fifth grade, will be an outdoor clinic including the offerings of dental exams, xrays, fluoride varnish, cleanings and sealants, according to Dientes Chief Development Director Sheree Storm.
The first outreach day will target children in the Live Oak and Soquel Union school districts and will be appointment-only. Appointments can be made by calling 831-713-5926.
The outreach days will build on Dientes’ effort to strengthen access to quality dental care for those from infancy to age 9. According to data provided by Storm coming from Medi-Cal, Santa Cruz County has overcome previous gaps in dental care utilization for children it faced as recently as 2014.
In 2014, just 16% of infants to 2-year-old children were being provided access to dental care in the county; four years later, 52% of infants to 2-year-olds had access to dental care. In 2014 only 39% of children in Santa Cruz County aged 3 to 9 nine were getting regular dental care. By 2018, 70% of the county’s children aged 3 to 9 were seeing a dentist regularly.
Now, Storm pointed out in an email to the Sentinel, both figures exceed the recent state averages of 28% for those infants to 2 years of age and 62% for those 3 to 9 years of age.
Dientes celebrates that local and state health programs and initiatives to improve oral health care for children are climbing across California. This includes incentives for providers who see Medi-Cal dental patients, named the Dental Transformation Initiative.
To learn more about Dientes’ outreach and operations around COVID-19, visit dientes.org.
The first outreach day will target children in the Live OakandSoquel Union school districts and will be appointment-only.