Children’s Dental Health
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Key Resources, Organizations & Funding Sources

• Treatment
• Volunteer Efforts
• Local Organizations & Collaborations
• Statewide Organizations
• Funding Sources
• Useful Internet Resources

Local Organizations & Collaborations

The Silicon Valley Oral Health Collaborative serves Santa Clara County. Its more than two dozen member organizations include public agencies, school districts, nonprofits, foundations, health care providers, the dental society, and dental providers, as well as Head Start and the oral hygiene program at Foothill College. To learn more, contact Maureen Wadiak, Chair, Silicon Valley Oral Health Collaborative (Associate Director, Community Services Agency), (650) 968-0836 ext. 112, or visit www.healthtrust.org/programs/programs_childdental_svohc.php.

The Health Trust, in San Jose, plays a leading role in providing mobile dental services, serves as the fiscal agent for the Oral Health Collaborative, organizes volunteer dentists, and disseminates information about oral health. To learn more, visit www.healthtrust.org/programs/programs_childdental.php.

The Dental Coalition of San Mateo County, operating out of the County Health Department, includes a similar array of agencies and providers. The Coalition works to find treatment for low-income children whose dental problems have been spotted by doctors, schools, or other screening programs, and promotes prevention strategies. To learn more, contact Rachelle Salvana, Children's Dental Health Coordinator, San Mateo County, at rsalvana@co.sanmateo.ca.us.

Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health has launched the website www.kidsdentalhealth.org to provide better information about children's dental health locally. The site includes data, news, research, and general information about local services and activities. The Foundation has also made several small oral health grants, as discussed below, and commissioned this report. To learn more, visit www.kidsdentalhealth.org or contact Eileen Walsh, Vice President and Director of Communications, at (650) 736-2881 or eileen.walsh@lpfch.org.

The Dental Societies in both counties participate in the county coalitions and provide volunteer dentists and hygienists for the annual "Give Kids a Smile" day. Each county has a dental society, and the Mid-Peninsula Dental Society covers Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Woodside, Portola Valley, Los Altos, and Mountain View. To learn more, contact the Santa Clara County Dental Society at (408) 289-1480; or the San Mateo County Dental Society, at (650) 637-1121; or the Mid-Peninsula Dental Society, at (650) 328-2242.

First 5 Santa Clara County funds dental services, including education and treatment, to children under age 6 living in the Alum Rock Elementary, San Jose Unified, Franklin-McKinley, and Gilroy Unified School Districts. It also offers oral health education to their parents and older siblings. Services are provided through Gardner Family Health Network in Gilroy, with some assistance from Tooth Mobile, and through the Tooth Mobile in the remaining districts. In addition, First 5 fully funds Healthy Kids premiums for children under 6 -- which includes dental coverage -- and conducts outreach for Healthy Kids.To learn more, contact First 5 Santa Clara County at (408) 260-3700 or visit www.first5kids.com.

First 5 San Mateo County is funding governmental/nonprofit collaborations to improve dental care for children with special health care needs, and to ensure that low-income families fully utilize health insurance, including dental insurance. First 5 has made long-term investments in its county Healthy Kids program, which includes dental coverage. To learn more, contact First 5 San Mateo County at (650) 372-9500.

Healthy Ventures is a collaborative composed of approximately 23 nonprofits, school districts, and local governments in Mountain View, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills who address a variety of health issues, including dental care. Through Healthy Ventures, and its convening agency -- Community Services Agency -- a limited number of children receive dental screenings and referrals for treatment by volunteer dentists.
To learn more, contact Maureen Wadiak, Associate Director, Community Services Agency, at mwadiak@csacares.org.