BUENA PARK : Dental Clinic for Young Fills a Need

The blue vinyl dentist’s chair was homemade and the makeshift office had been a garage, but Fabiola Garcia didn’t notice.

Reclining comfortably with her mouth wide open, the 14-year-old was getting a filling that her family could not have afforded.

She was a patient at the Buena Park Boys and Girls Club Dental Clinic, a program designed to make going to the dentist affordable for children of low-income families. Here, anyone with medical insurance is turned away.

“We catch people who would otherwise fall through the cracks,” said dental assistant Faye Gibson, who helped open the clinic more than 12 years ago. “We take most anybody.”

In operation since 1978, the clinic has just recently reopened after being shut down for more than a year because of a lack of funds. Two dentists, a dental assistant and receptionist staff the office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. All of the $70,000 needed annually to run the office is donated by local service clubs and private donors.

The service is geared for families who make less than $20,000 a year. For them, food is a priority over dental care, Gibson said. “Dentistry is low on the totem pole. It is a service for kids who won’t get help.”

The doctors perform almost all dental procedures including simple orthodontics. A fee of $5 to $25 is charged to cover lab costs.

When the doors open, a steady stream of children begin parading into the building, coming from as far as San Bernardino and Pasadena.

Garcia, a student at South Gate High, was having two cavities filled by dentist Brian Saunders, who has a private practice in Newport Beach. Garcia said she has been coming to the clinic since 1986.

But many other patients, Saunders said, have never been to a dentist’s office.

Sometimes, he said, “you find a mouthful of (cavities), not just one or two.”

Since the clinic reopened in October, the appointment book has been jammed.

Most of the supplies have been donated, including the expensive dental equipment, which is replaced piece by piece as it breaks down. With its light pink curtains and pictures of the five food groups on the wall, the office has a warm, mismatched look. A brand-new instrument sterilizing machine stands next to a dentist chair that is more than 40 years old.

But it is functional, and that’s all that matters, Gibson said.