Community Oral Health Services

In 1996, children’s dental care was identified, through a community assessment, as the most urgent health need of children in Monterey County. In response, the ACTION Council initiated community partnerships, raised over $800,000 in funding, developed the program components and hired staff, creating the country’s first children’s mobile dental center. Once its sustainability was insured, the ACTION Council created the Appolonia Foundation, a new 501(c)(3), to administer the program. Since its inception in 1998, the Children’s Mobile Dental Center has served over 17,000 children per year who would not have, otherwise, received needed care – and has had a significant impact on the dental health of the rural children in the county. Now called the Community Oral Health Services, the organization offers education and prevention services in addition to treatment services county-wide. To contact this organization, call Debi Diaz, Executive Director at 422-6889, ext. 11.