New pediatric dental program opens

Children practiced effective toothbrushing techniques at an oral health fair hosted by Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield UCLA Venice Dental Center. (Photos by Kari Wilton)

Quality dental care for kids will get a boost with the opening of a new pediatric dentistry residency program at Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield UCLA Venice Dental Center.

The community-oriented clinic celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and oral health fair on April 12. The new program will address the challenge of children's oral health: Despite $85 billion in oral health spending per year, more than 79% of U.S. kids suffer from tooth decay.

The Center provides comprehensive dental care to an ethnically diverse, lower-income population from Venice and the surrounding areas. Founded in 1969 by the UCLA School of Dentistry, it has grown from a five-chair storefront unit to a 20-chair state-of-the-art clinic that each year handles more than 15,000 visits from indigent patients, the elderly, the homeless and ethnic minorities whose needs are great and whose resources are sorely limited.

Longtime clinic advocates Robert "Bob" Wilson and Margaret "Peggy" Bloomfield played important leadership roles and offered generous funding support in the creation of this expanded program.

Learn more about the Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield UCLA Venice Dental Center at its Web site.