First 5 San Bernardino has awarded the Center for Oral Health a $2.1 million grant to strengthen health infrastructure and increase access to quality oral health care for young children and pregnant women county-wide over the next 3 years. COH will take the existing evidence-based program and implement and enhance Early Smiles on a larger scale.  Read the press release here. 


On June 5, 2015 Governor Jerry Brown announced that  Dr. Jayanth Kumar, DDS, MPH , 61, of Clifton Park, NY, has been appointed State Dental Director in the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the California Department of Public Health.

"Center for Oral Health was founded as a support organization for the State Dental Director. Over the years, COH and other organizations worked under the auspices of the State Dental Director to complete oral health assessments and advance a statewide agenda. COH will put its current efforts to assess oral health status of older adults, and the oral health status of children at the services of Dr. Kumar," said Executive Director, Dr. Conrado Barzaga. Read more here.


Center for Oral Health is currently conducting a statewide assessment of the oral health status of Older Adults in California. This two-year, two-phase project is funded by The California Wellness Foundation and The Archstone Foundation. The project's goals are to document the oral health needs of older adults and to educate and inform policy makers about oral health status among older adults. The project will give COH and other healthcare agencies the data to help inform policy makers and decision makers about the oral health needs of older adults in California.  Read More Here


Oral Health & Quality of Life Among Older Adults will disseminate the latest knowledge about oral health among the Older Adult population. The Symposium is focused on educating healthcare professionals from different disciplines about the different stages of older adulthood and will highlight the best and promising practices that promote oral health integration into general health.  You will not want to miss this exciting educational event. Mark your calendars! Learn More



Oral Health Action Coalition - Inland Empire was launched in October 2014 as a joint effort by Kaiser Permanente and the Center for Oral Health to mobilize and organize the local resources in the Inland Empire Region to increase access to oral health care and improve health outcomes for the residents of this region. OHAC-IE has developed their mission and vision statements and are currently creating a workplan to help meet their goals for the short-term and long-term future for the Inland Empire.  Learn More



For over 30 years, COH has been the leader in advancing oral health knowledge and services for the underserved. Join us in celebrating our past accomplishments and our plans for the future on this exciting night! Hosted at the the incredible Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, November 20th, this is one night you will not want to miss! 


COH welcomes Elmer Hilo, DMD as New Dental Director

COH has hired Elmer Hilo, DMD as Dental Director for the organization. Dr. Hilo has been instrumental in expanding the oral health services COH provides at our two school-based clinics at Murchison and Evergreen Elementary schools in LAUSD. A grant received from the DentaQuest Foundation has enabled COH to provide oral health education and dental care services for 1,300 students at these sites. 

Dr. Hilo is a third generation dentist, and received his DMD from Western University as part of the inaugural class. He completed his post-doctoral training at UCLA in Advanced Education in General Dentistry. Dr. Hilo is also a clinical assistant faculty at Western University and contributed to Western University and COH's community dental clinics in Pomona and other underserved areas in Los Angeles County. We are so pleased to have him as part of our team! 


COH Executive Director speaks at the FDI-World Dental Federation meeting of "Las Americas" in Santiago, Chile

Dr. Conrado Barzaga, COH's Executive Director, was invited to speak at the FDI Las Americas meeting in Chile on March 28, 2015. He presented data on access to care and spoke about the complexities of access. His presentation was highly praised by the Chilean Dental Society and the country's Ministry of Health representatives at the meeting. He was invited to meet with the country's highest oral health authorities. COH's Board Chairman, Dr. Jack Dillenberg accompanied Dr. Barzaga on the trip to Chile where they also met with the Dean at the University of Concepcion.


Dental Board of California Presentation

On February 25, 2015, Jennifer Pilapil from the Center for Oral Health and Dr. Elizabeth Mertz from the University of California, San Francisco, gave a presentation  to the Dental Board of California: Access to Care Committee. 

During this presentation a picture of the current state of affairs was given, discussing the number of dentists who currently provide services in the State of California.  A spatial and statistical analysis was presented, explaining the uneven distribution of dentists and access to Medi-Cal providers. The State of California's database from the Department of Consumer Affairs and Dental Board of California were compared via geographic information system (GIS) data analytics to show the usefulness of high quality data. The presentation was well received by the Access to Care committee. 

COH is continuing to work with the Dental Board of California to conduct a state-wide research project to strategically improve access to care in California.

Murchison Elementary Dental Assessment provides services to over 200 students!

COH, in collaboration with Los Angeles Unified School District; The Los Angeles Trust for Children's Health; and Western University of Health Sciences, College of Dental Medicine; hosted the 2nd Annual Dental Assessment at Murchison Elementary.

Over 200 students were screened, given fluoride varnish treatments, and received oral health education. COH would like to give a special thanks to LAUSD staff Gloria Espinosa, RN, Claudia Yepes, RN, and Daisy Caperon for all their hard work in organizing the event and making it so successful!

 

Mailing Address.  309 East Second Street | Pomona, CA  91766-1854
telephone. (909) 469-8300 | fax. (510) 380-6637 | email. info@tc4oh.org

Newsletter: June 2015