Mobile Dental Unit for Henry T. Gage Middle School Students

Health care access

Gateway Cities

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Our mobile dental clinic provides low-cost or free care to students in Los Angeles’ poorest neighborhoods. The demographic and socio-economic risk factors of the NECC service area, combined with the inadequate number of oral health care providers serving low-income residents, demonstrate the need for greater resources in the service area
Low-income students suffer from a lack of dental care due to a variety of factors: high costs, lack of insurance, parental time constraints, cultural barriers and transportation difficulties. Mobile dental units that go directly to a child's school circumvent all these hardships and allow children to access oral health services regardless of their financial circumstances.
There is a great need among NECC’s target population for oral health care and education about the importance of routine dental maintenance. Recent studies have show that Hispanic adults, those with lower incomes, and those with less education have more untreated tooth decay.

NECC will upgrade and expand services in our mobile dental clinic located at Gage High School in Huntington Park, California. NECC opened this dental clinic at the request of the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) to address the urgent oral health needs of students.
Poor oral health remains one of the most prevalent unmet healthcare needs in the service area, and access to care is limited by the number of oral health care providers who serve the low income residents. Furthermore, bilingual Spanish/English dental professionals in the service area are rare.
NECC will provide the following preventative dental services: dental screenings and recommendations for preventive intervention; oral hygiene instruction and related oral health education, oral prophylaxis, topical application of fluorides, application of sealants; and dental x-rays for diagnostic screening for both caries and periodontal disease.
NECC also provides additional dental services to diagnose and treat disease, injury, or impairment in teeth and associated structures of the oral cavity, including diagnostic x-rays and imaging, fillings and single unit crowns, non-surgical endodontics, extractions and periodontal therapies.
The importance of teaching dental care and maintenance will be of the utmost priority, as will providing students with a home for future dental visits.

The success of our mobile dental unit will encourage LAUSD to implement more dental units at schools across Los Angeles County. Oral health equity will no longer be dependent on a person's zip code, income level, or immigration status.
Success means fewer children missing school due to preventable tooth pain. It means improved overall health, since poor oral health is closely linked to chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
Through NECC’s mobile dental unit, underserved students in hard-to-reach populations will gain consistent access to high-quality preventive and restorative dental care - many for the first time.
Low-income families often forgo dental care until emergencies arise. NECC’s mobile dental unit removes access to care barriers and creates a safe dental home for students current and future needs.