Dental Center Groundbreaking ceremony
Filling The Gap In Our Community
On June 28, 2019, UMMA broke ground on a brand new dental center! Access to dental health services disproportionately affect the South Los Angeles community.
UMMA Clinic will be opening our Dental Clinic in one of most underserved areas in LA. We are building our new facility in SPA6, a region where 63% of the adults ages 18-64 are uninsured for dental care and 24% of children do not have Dental insurance. 35% of adults were not able to obtain dental care because they could not afford it. The dental center will provide access to care to 1 in 8 children who have not received care because their family could not afford it, and 1 in 3 adults who do not have access care due to cost.
Our Impact
Students in the LAUSD without access to dental care are three times more likely to miss school because of dental problems than students with access to care. On average, students in LAUSD, miss 2.2 days of school annually because of dental problems. Finally, students with toothaches are almost four times more likely to have a grade point average lower than the median.
Chronic childhood diseases such as dental cavities are highly preventable. Poor oral health can disrupt normal childhood development. Children in Los Angeles County face great oral health disparities, faring worse than the national average for the prevalence of tooth decay. FQHCs and other community clinics have played an important role in the provision of oral health services.
With your generous contribution, UMMA is able to build a generation of families who can rely on receiving excellent dental care. We will be able to make a lasting impact on children’s oral health, and UMMA’s new ability to provide dental care will help to change the trajectory of our community members’ lives.
