Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Free Dental Care Puts Smiles on Faces of Youth : Health: Mobile clinic from USC aids 120 schoolchildren from low-income families in need of major treatment.

Michelle Rojas smiled widely as she slid back in the dentist’s chair Friday, showing no fear as USC dental student Bill Contente prodded. But Michelle’s smile revealed her whites were less than pearly.

How many cavities? “I guess I have three,” said the 9-year-old, who had never before visited a dentist. But after the X-rays were complete, Contente said he found seven cavities--four of them pretty big.

Michelle, a student at Old Orchard Elementary School, was one of 120 schoolchildren from low-income families in Santa Clarita who will be given free dental care this week by USC’s mobile dental clinic.

Four trailers--complete with dental chairs, X-ray equipment and all the scary-looking instruments that bring kids to tears--were parked outside St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church early Friday.

But there were no tears and mostly smiles outside the church as the children lined up to begin their dental work, many experiencing for the first time the apprehension inspired by the dentist’s chair.

Josue Iniguez shook his loose tooth as he waited to be X-rayed. “Maybe the dentist will pull it out,” said the 9-year-old, also from Old Orchard Elementary. And Edgar Ramirez, an 8-year-old classmate, said he wasn’t nervous about what was to come.

He was a veteran of the dentist’s chair, he said.

“You can tell that the children appreciate someone relieving their pain,” said Mary Caravalho, president of the Foundation for Children’s Dental Health, which sponsored the mobile clinic’s visit to Santa Clarita for a second consecutive year. “They have smiles on their faces you’ve never seen before.”

The foundation was created in 1992, Caravalho said, after volunteers “came to the conclusion that there was an absolute lack of dental care for low-income children.” The foundation has received donations from Los Angeles County, various cities and private charities over the past two years. Proceeds pay for dental work that costs an average of $170 for each student.

Even before the mobile clinic rolled into town, local dentists like Dr. Mehran Abbassian volunteered to screen hundreds of low-income children to assess their dental needs. From that group, 120 of the most severe cases were chosen.

“A lot of them, financially, are not capable of taking care of their dental needs,” Abbassian said. “The ones that are here need the major treatment.”

Such was the case of Jacob Flick from Newhall Elementary School. The 11-year-old has an infected tooth that recently caused swelling on one side of his mouth, his father, Buddy Flick, said. Without help, Flick would have been able to do little for his son.

“We’re here because I’m unemployed,” said Flick, who has nine children. Last year he brought one of his daughters to the mobile clinic for free dental work.

The clinic travels all over Southern California and has gone as far as Mexico, said Brent Fung, a student director of the program. It is supported entirely by donations and staffed by a rotating crew of USC dental students supervised by some of their instructors.

Students said volunteering for the clinic is rewarding, and some have participated throughout their time at dental school.

“I got involved with the program as soon as I found out about it,” said Mitra Bolbolan, a 26-year-old dental student who has been on the mobile clinic team for 3 1/2 years. “It’s one thing we do and don’t ask for anything back. . . . It feels good.”