Dientes Community Dental Care opened its fifth Santa Cruz County dental clinic Wednesday, an eight-chair office in Watsonville that the nonprofit says will enable it to serve 3,000 more low-income patients annually.
The clinic on Penny Lane is the second Watsonville location for Dientes, which opened its first location in 2015. The nonprofit has partnered with Santa Cruz County’s Health Services Agency to open clinics and expand its outreach program to 16 sites across the Pajaro Valley, serving more nearly 12,000 patients annually.
Dientes’ 2022 Oral Health Needs Assessment found that 67% of Santa Cruz County residents with Medi-Cal do not receive necessary dental care. In South County alone, 35,000 Medi-Cal recipients continue to face difficulties seeing a dentist, the nonprofit said in a media release.
The nearly $2 million project was paid for with donations from the Central California Alliance for Health, Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and individual community members, including donors from Community Foundation Santa Cruz County.
“A child free from dental pain can finally focus in school. An adult with a healthy smile can walk into a job interview with confidence. A senior can share a meal – and a smile – with family,” Laura Marcus, CEO of Dientes Community Dental Care, said in a statement. “This is the power of access to care, and this is why we’re here.”
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