UNE, Opportunity Alliance partnership providing low-income families access to much-needed dental care
“Starting in 2023, Richardson and his students have provided dental cleanings, fluoride treatments, anticavity treatments, and oral health education to participants at the WIC office on Lancaster Street, seeing as many as four or five families per day. In that year alone, they provided much-needed dental care to over 130 individuals who otherwise would have likely foregone dental treatment due to financial constraints, language barriers, or both — and that number will only increase once this semester’s numbers are tallied. But the treatment doesn’t end at Lancaster Street. Thanks in part to funding from Northeast Delta Dental and a collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles, the UNE-TOA clinic has referred over 120 participants to “dental home,” a primary dental office that can best meet their needs over time.”