Countywide : Dental Clinic Offers Service With a Smile

Six-year-old Kevin Espinoza sat wide-eyed in the dentist chair and carefully listened as Rita Stegman stressed the importance of brushing and cleaning his teeth.

Then Stegman, a registered dental assistant, offered him a choice of a complimentary toothbrush. Kevin picked a blue one and smiled.

For Kevin and many other children from low-income families throughout Orange County and the surrounding area, the Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park Dental Clinic is the last hope for receiving dental care.

“We take kids from all areas,” Stegman said. “The clinic is designed for people who fall through the cracks and have no insurance or Medi-Cal.”

Dr. Brian Saunders, who works three days a week treating young patients here, tells Kevin to open wide.

“We’re just going to take a look,” Saunders said, peering into the boy’s mouth with a tiny mirror and dental tool.

The youngster visited the dental clinic recently for the first time for a checkup. The clinic, which opened in 1978, offers dental services to patients ages 4 to 22 at low cost.

Kevin’s mother, Refugio (Cookie) Sanchez of Anaheim, said she brought her son to the clinic because she cannot afford to take him to a private dentist.

“I work, but I don’t get too much money and dental (care) is expensive,” said Sanchez, a nurse’s assistant and single parent.

“They help out a lot,” she added. “If there wasn’t this clinic, a lot of people couldn’t afford to take their children to the dentist and their children will have teeth problems.”

Patients are billed based on income and ability to pay, and services cost most families between $5 and $25 a visit. They include fillings, teeth cleaning, root canals, minor gum treatment, crowns and bridge work.

Saunders, who has a private practice in a Newport Beach, said many of his patients have never been to a dentist and suffer from a myriad of dental problems.

“We see children with mouthfuls of cavities,” he said. “There’s definitely a need (for the clinic) because especially in the recession, people put off dental care.”

Educating children--and their parents--about proper dental hygiene and care, such as brushing and flossing, are also top priorities at the clinic, Stegman said.

The clinic, at 7758 Knott Ave., next to the Boys & Girls Club, serves about 12 to 15 patients a day, and is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Officials plan to have the clinic open four days a week because of the patient demand. But Saunders said the clinic must first find a dentist willing to volunteer services one day a week because the facility does not have the extra money to pay another salary. Currently, there is a six- to eight-week wait to get an appointment.

The clinic’s operating budget is $140,000 a year, of which 40% to 50% comes from a major donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

The club is embarking on a fund-raising campaign for a scholarship program to pay for dental work that patients need from specialty dentists, Morgan said.

Saunders said he wants to expand the clinic’s services to refer children who need such care as braces and oral surgery to outside dentists. But he needs dentists who are willing to offer these services at their offices for free or at reduced fees.