Welcome to our Dientes' Programs. We offer a variety of programs designed to advance professional growth, enhance patient care, and extend our outreach into the community. These initiatives include workforce development, specialty care, oral health education, and our senior oral health coalition, among others. Each program underscores our dedication to improving oral health across all ages and communities.
Workforce Development Programs at Dientes:
At Dientes, we believe that empowering our team through education and training are the keystones of success. Our commitment to workforce development is more than professional growth, it is about elevating the quality of care for every patient we have the privilege of serving. We’ve launched several workforce initiatives making a real difference:
Dental Assistant Registered Apprenticeship Program:
Our new Dental Assistant (DA) apprenticeship program exemplifies commitment to developing local talent. In partnership with the County Office of Education, the apprenticeship program will offer didactic and paid on-the-job training. Our seasoned staff will mentor the apprentices, and the program will create an ongoing pipeline of qualified candidates.
General Dentist Residency Program:
Our partnership with NYU Langone Health, introduced in 2022, offers a residency program training dentists in a community health clinic. The program provides residents hands-on learning while working alongside other dental professionals to gain extensive experience in patient care and training generation of dentists. We hired one of our inaugural residents, highlighting our commitment to developing talent within and enhancing our services for patients.
RDA-EF and Hygiene Scholarships:
We offer scholarships to our team for schooling to become a Hygienist or a Registered Dental Assistant in Extended Functions (RDA-EF: similar to “I’m very proud to be a graduate of the RDA-EF program. After the program, I a Physician’s Assistant). These scholarships allow our staff to gain qualifications and expertise, paving the way to become providers within our organization.
The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California, awarded Dientes Community Dental Care and Salud Para La Gente membership as the Senior Oral Health Coalition Program. The multi-year program launched in April 2022 to address the oral health crisis among older adults in the U.S. Our coalition promotes the connection between oral health and overall health, improve access and create greater equity in the care and treatment older adults receive.
For more information, visit: https://www1.deltadentalins.com/senior-oral-health.html
Our Outreach Program eliminates transportation as a barrier to care for underserved Santa Cruz County residents at many venues, including schools, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and our one-chair Outreach Clinic at Housing Matters in Santa Cruz.
Our partnerships provide patients who might not otherwise get access to dental services to the treatment they need.
At our outreach sites, our staff delivers oral health evaluations including x-rays, and procedures such as cleanings and fluoride varnish. Those patients who require more complex care are referred back to our clinic.
Dientes provides oral health education and preventive services in six school districts (Pajaro Valley Unified, Live Oak, San Lorenzo Valley, Soquel Unified, Santa Cruz City & Santa Cruz County Office of Education) at 30+ schools. The program has been a huge success since its inception in 2009.
Our Dientes Cares Program focuses on making oral health care available to all, especially for low-income, uninsured patients. For those patients who do not have dental insurance, Dientes offers a sliding scale fee (based on proof of income).
Dientes offers comprehensive specialty care for patients who previously had to leave the county and wait several months to access services, because there was no endodontist or oral surgeon in Santa Cruz County that accepted Medi-Cal. Through our Specialty Care Program, adults and children can receive root canals, extractions, and other surgical procedures from an oral surgeon and endodontist.