SANTA YNEZ, CA – The Santa Ynez Tribal Well being Clinic (SYTHC) will maintain its third annual Give Youngsters A Smile (GKAS) occasion from 8:00am to five:00pm on Thursday, Feb. 2, on the clinic, positioned on the reservation at 90 By way of Juana Lane in Santa Ynez. The occasion gives kids, ages 1-12, with free dental work, together with exams and cleanings.
As one in all SYTHC’s largest occasions of the yr, the clinic’s dental division will present dental look after any native little one no matter revenue or insurance coverage standing. Youngsters will obtain a complete oral examination (together with X-rays when applicable), enamel cleansing, oral well being schooling and dietary suggestions. Any therapy that’s identified in the course of the exams shall be accomplished at follow-up visits all through 2023. The occasion shall be staffed by SYTHC dentists, registered dental assistants and dental hygienists. Throughout final yr’s occasion, practically $10,000 of dental providers have been offered to 27 kids for gratis to their households.
“Our dental division seems ahead to this occasion yearly as a result of it provides us a possibility to shine a light-weight on the significance of pediatric oral well being and to hopefully make a constructive and lasting impression on our younger sufferers,” mentioned Dr. Mike Savidan, Dental Director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
“It’s an honor to have the ability to be capable of maintain this annual occasion that has no out-of-pocket price to our sufferers,” mentioned Richard Matens, Chief Well being Officer for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. “Give Youngsters A Smile provides dad and mom a possibility to supply their kids with dental care that they in any other case may not get annually.”
GKAS is a nationwide program launched in 2003 by the American Dental Affiliation (ADA), with the aim of offering no-cost look after hundreds of kids at tons of of places nationwide. With February being Nationwide Youngsters’s Dental Well being Month, annually in the course of the first week of the month, dental places of work throughout the nation accomplice with the ADA and have a good time with their very own GKAS occasion, offering much-needed free dental therapy to underserved kids of their native communities.
Situated on the Santa Ynez Reservation, SYTHC accommodates greater than 20,000 affected person visits per yr, has an lively affected person inhabitants of over 7,400 and employs 70 workforce members. Whereas the clinic’s complete medical, dental and behavioral well being providers can be found to Chumash neighborhood members, the clinic additionally treats non-Native sufferers of various ethnic backgrounds with distinctive wants. The ability accepts Medicare, Medi-Cal and most main insurance coverage.
The clinic is a not-for-profit group below the Federally Certified Well being Facilities (FQHC) tips and receives funding via numerous grants, together with grants from the Indian Well being Service (IHS). The clinic has achieved mature contractor standing with IHS and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is licensed as an FQHC look-a-like Medi-Cal/Medicare facility.
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