First few Article Sentences
Late last year, there was extensive media coverage about access to dental services for California's Medi-Cal patients (SF Chronicle, 12/11/14). In December 2014, the California State Auditor reported that nearly 56 percent of the 5.1 million children enrolled in Medi-Cal from October 2012 through September 2013 failed to receive dental care through the program; eleven counties simply did not have dental providers willing to accept Medi-Cal patients. Marin County is an exception and, in fact, a success story, with the second highest Medi-Cal utilization rate in the state for pediatric dental care. The Marin Community Clinic, a not-for-profit Federally Qualified Health Center, is the primary provider of dental services to the county’s Medi-Cal, underserved and underinsured population. We operate three dental clinics with a total of 19 chairs and have 18 dentists, serve 11,000 patients/year (9,000 of whom are children) - and the numbers are growing. The contributions of local dentists, the creation of a Chief Dental Officer position, the formation of a Dental Advisory Committee and community philanthropy have been critical success factors.