VISION
To make a positive difference in the lives of dentally underserved children and their caregivers throughout the Greater Los Angeles area.
“We will care for every child as we would our own.”
- brand promise
MISSION
As a nonprofit agency we are dedicated to eliminating dental disease and promoting overall health by providing a dental home for underserved children and their caregivers through exceptional and comprehensive prevention, education, and treatment services, further, to contribute to the establishment of a healthy local economy.
WHO WE ARE
The Community Dental Center of Greater Los Angeles (TCDC) was founded as the The Children’s
Dental Center of Greater Los Angeles in 1995 by Cherilyn Sheets, D.D.S., to provide oral health
care for uninsured children. In 2006, Dennis Young, Dr.PH, President and CEO, enlarged the
practice to include Denti-Cal Children and Denti-Cal Adults, and expanded TCDC services to
include Orthodontia, Endodontics, and Oral Surgery for underserved individuals. In 2020, TCDC
changed its name to The Community Dental Center of Greater Los Angeles to reflect its expanded
mission and goals.
TCDC is a dental home as described by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, adapting
the dental home model to maximize its impact on TCDC’s target populations. TCDC’s dental home
is a multi-faceted relationship with its child patients and outreach students, and their families
and caregivers. This includes integrating preventive, educational, and dental treatment
interventions tailored to each child’s assets and needs, and creating collaborative partnerships
between TCDC’s care providers and patient families. The outcome has been the empowerment
of young dental consumers, with the support of their parents/caregivers, to gain the knowledge
necessary to make and execute informed health decisions that allow for happier, healthier, more
productive, and even longer lives.
Affiliations and Collaborations
Professional
Schools of dentistry affiliated with TCDC include the USC Ostrow School of Dentistry, the UCLA School of Dentistry, Tufts University School of Dentistry, A. T. Still University School of Dentistry and Oral Health, and Western University College of Dental Medicine. Dental hygiene programs affiliated with TCDC include the University of Southern California, West Los Angeles College, and Cerritos College. Medical centers and schools affiliated with TCDC include Cedars Sinai Medical Center, and Mount St. Mary’s University Nursing Program. These affiliations provide a dual purpose of providing services for TCDC’s patients and providing hands-on education for oral health profession students. These collaborations create a social awareness among new oral health professionals and encourages a life-long commitment to providing a dental home for underserved children and their families.
Community
TCDC has formal Memoranda of Understanding to deliver dental education and dental screening services with Lennox School District, Inglewood Unified School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, and Torrance Unified School District, Para Los Niños, and the American Indian Healing Center. TCDC has strong working relationships with many excellent children’s service organizations like Coach for Kids, El Nido Family Services, Great Beginnings for Black Babies, and Mother’s In Action, among others. TCDC is and has been recognized for our systemic change approach to reducing oral disease in a dental home environment by the Children’s Oral Health Collaborative, First Five of LA & Sacramento, The Eisner Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, the California Community Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, the Alice C. Tyler Perpetual Trust, The Patterson Foundation, National Children’s Oral Health Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation, The Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation, The Baxter International Foundation, Oral Health America, Kaiser Permanente, Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles, the City of Inglewood, the City of Lennox and many other outstanding municipalities, organizations, corporations and foundations.