San Gabriel Valley Foundation for Dental Health: A Hand Up Not a Handout

By Richard M. Cohrs

The San Gabriel Valley Foundation for Dental Health Clinic was established to offer reduced-fee health care to the needy. The basic tenets of the clinic are to minimize dental disease by teaching prevention and treat the dental needs of the disadvantaged, while teaching responsibility for the cost of dental care. Beneficiaries of the clinic include patients, dental assisting students, volunteer dentists, and organized dentistry.

Article copyright 1998 Journal of the California Dental Association.
Photographs copyright of the authors.

Prior to 1997, when the San Gabriel Valley Foundation for Dental Health Clinic was established, there was no dental clinic sponsored by organized dentistry to treat the unmet dental needs of the local community. Two options for such treatment did exist, Every Child's Health Option (ECHO) and the El Monte Comprehensive Health Center. ECHO only treated dental emergencies, without any concomitant fee for the service. The El Monte Comprehensive Health Center currently has two full-time dentists who treat patients five days a week at reduced fees, and there is no prerequisite to be an eligible patient, such as low family income. There was no facility that emphasized minimizing dental disease by teaching prevention as well as treating the dental needs of the disadvantaged, while concurrently teaching responsibility rather than promoting the concept of entitlement by giving away services for free.

The Beginning

The 1994 president of the San Gabriel Valley Dental Society, Dr. Stuart Rubin, had a dream of establishing a clinic that would cut through the red tape and get to the dental treatment. He discussed the idea with Gretchen Richardson, director of the LaPuente-Hacienda Dental Assisting Program, and came up with the concept of a program having the following goals:

* To provide multidisciplinary dental care to disadvantaged children;

* To offer a comprehensive patient/parent education program coordinated with a strong preventive dental program to minimize dental disease in children;

* To provide an environment of learning for dental assisting students to gain knowledge in running and staffing a multidisciplinary pediatric care facility;

* To make a visible difference in an ethnically diverse community;

* To encourage minority youths to consider a future in dentistry; and

* To provide a model that can serve as a pattern for other facilities.

The clinic was set up through the foundation (a 501[c][3] charitable, nonprofit organization) so it could accept tax-deductible contributions and would be at arm's length from the San Gabriel Valley Dental Society. Dr. Sylvia Beeman chaired an ad hoc committee, which coordinated the process of establishing the clinic. Legal steps such as creating bylaws and articles of incorporation were done with the help of an attorney. Approximately $2,000 in seed money was provided by the Alliance of the San Gabriel Valley Dental Society. It took 12 months to get a community clinic license from Los Angeles County. Finally, the state accepted the articles of incorporation in July 1996, thus creating the San Gabriel Valley Foundation for Dental Health.

The Facility

The current facility is a multiroom building consisting of a classroom, supply room, X-ray alcove, business office, and a large classroom converted to include three dental chairs for treatment. The dental assisting program has 54 students on a self-paced program that should take about one year to complete. Clinical requirements include 384 hours of clinic experience treating patients at several locations: the clinic, private dental offices, and the mobile clinics of the University of Southern California.

The clinic is staffed by volunteer dentists who must be members of the dental society. The clinic offers two half-days of treatment per week. To quality as a patient in the clinic, the families of the child must:

* Not receive state entitlements, such as Medi-Cal;

* Not be eligible for any form of private dental insurance;

* Not have an annual income sufficient to pay for dental care as determined by income tax records or current payroll information, or be eligible for a school lunch program; and

* Show proof of residence in San Gabriel Valley.

Fees for dental services are $20 for the initial visit and $10 per subsequent visit. The foundation members firmly believe that even a nominal fee instills value in the service provided and counters the misguided concept of entitlements, which teach dependence on public support. The dental care provided is intended for those families that are working to make ends meet but cannot afford the "luxury" of dental care for their children. Since education is one of the goals, there is a strong emphasis on patient and parent responsibility in prevention and maintenance of dental health. Patients sign an agreement with the clinic to instill a sense of individual responsibility for a healthy lifestyle.

The dentistry provided at the clinic includes basic restorative dentistry, basic oral surgery, and general periodontics. The clinic will treat selected orthodontic cases, and possibly endodontic cases, in the future, depending on volunteer commitment. An objective of the foundation's organizers is to have each of the society's approximate 600 members donate one half-day in the clinic. If that were the case, each member would only need to work in the clinic once every four years. This reach for idealism strengthens the value of volunteer support.

Statistics

The start-up costs for the clinic were about $2,000, donated by the Alliance of the San Gabriel Valley Dental Society, the Glendora Kiwanis Club, and the Dental Foundation of California. Some of the supplies and many hours of work were donated by society members. The clinic has received instruments, toothbrushes, and disposable supplies from companies that include Oral B, Hu-Friedy, Patterson Dental, and Brasseler. From May to December 1997, the clinic treated about 350 patients, providing $55,710 worth of dentistry for about $3,218 in costs to patients.1 The resulting ratio of cash income to the value of dentistry produced is 6 percent.

Conclusion

This philanthropic effort has been a benefit to all involved. Clinic Director Gretchen Richardson states: "The clinic has been a great hands-on learning experience for my students as well as our staff. The students' enthusiasm and participation has been excellent, and working with a different dentist each day gives them an opportunity to improve their chairside skills."

Although Dr. Rubin's dream of creating this clinic was not inspired by critics of organized dentistry decrying the access to dental care problem to legislators in an effort to further their own agendas, the establishment of this clinic does, in fact, come at an opportune time in that regard. CDA has only recently focused on such philanthropic efforts of local dental societies throughout the state, in response to the realization of the need that existed, and the political significance of the issue.

We are proud of the San Gabriel Valley Foundation for Dental Health because it benefits the target population of underprivileged children, students in the dental assisting program, the dentists who volunteer their time and efforts to staff the facility, and organized dentistry. Our ideals demonstrate what type of health care the future could hold: Not a handout, but rather a hand up, to those who want to help themselves.

Author

Richard M. Cohrs, DDS, is editor of the San Gabriel Valley Dental Society.

Reference

1. San Gabriel Valley Foundation for Dental Health, 312 E. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel, Calif., accounting data.

To request printed copies of this article, please contact/Richard M. Cohrs, DDS, 554 W. Badillo St., Covina, CA 91722.