Join UCSF School of Dentistry in making a positive impact on our community! Our community outreach events offer a unique opportunity to serve those in need while gaining valuable experience in the field of dentistry.
Children’s Night Clinic (CNC):
CNC relaunched in January 2023 and has been offering dental screenings to children without a permanent dental home or dental insurance. Families come into the clinic and are seen by our dental students, under the supervision of faculty, in the evening. CNC is able to offer them exams, cleanings, sealants, silver diamine fluoride, and conclude the appointments with insurance counseling. We discuss the process of insurance enrollment and if they are interested in continuing their care at UCSF, we make them an appointment at our very own peds clinic! Students have said that this has been a very rewarding and impactful experience and they have been able to help so many families find a more permanent dental home in the Bay Area. CNC Instagram Page
American Student Dental Association (ASDA):
ASDA’s involvements with oral health spans many different arenas. It ranges from local work done in our SF community all the way to advocating for important dental related causes in Washington DC. A few of the ways ASDA has made an impact here at home is through our outreach efforts at elementary schools. We have packaged hundreds of oral hygiene goodie bags and dropped them off with little booklets to motivate children to continue taking care of their teeth. In addition, goodie bags were made and dropped off at shelters and other organizations in need of donation. Another recent project included making an oral hygiene instruction video as part of a statewide competition intended to advocate for good hygiene habits among children. ASDA’s focus on community service has allowed us to reach out and impact many different types of communities and our vision moving forward is to continue expanding on these efforts on a larger scale. We also assemble Oral Hygiene Instruction Kits for the community during our ASDA Week of Service and distribute these kits to SF Health Centers like Mabuhay Health, La Casa de las Mares and SF city schools. Additionally, we hold clothing drives for St. Anthony’s. ASDA Instagram
Hispanic Student Dental Association (HSDA):
HSDA provides oral health services, education, and advocacy to eliminate oral health disparities in Hispanic communities in the Bay Area. We are not exclusively for Hispanic students. We are open to any student or faculty that wants to learn from our individual and diverse cultural upbringings. We run a yearly interactive elective course in Spanish, teaching our colleagues how to conduct a medical dental exam for their Spanish-speaking patients. These are just a sample of the many community events we have done or have planned for this year: New Beginnings, Community Festival, SF Carnaval Healthcare Careers Conference Health Fair at Unity Council, PITCH Careers Event , Booker T Washington Community Center Health Event and our annual Building Bridges Event. HSDA Instagram
Children’s Health Hut:
Children's Health Hut at UCSF is a non-profit volunteer organization composed of dental, medical, nursing, pharmacy, and physical therapy students who are committed to improving the health of children. The Health Hut visits health fairs, community centers, and schools within San Francisco neighborhoods promoting health education and facilitating access to health care. Recently in the community, they have been doing many oral health screening events in the SF community at schools like Cleveland Elementary School. Additionally, they have health events in the community like the SF Public Library Health Fair where dental students volunteer to read stories and teach oral hygiene to children and their families.
American Dental Education Association (ADEA):
The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Student Chapter at the UCSF School of Dentistry strives to promote excellence in all aspects of dental education by providing opportunities for professional development and leadership. They aim to address the need for dental educators, to encourage the pursuit of careers in academia and research, to further post-graduate education, and to outreach, mentor and recruit under-represented students into dentistry. This year, they have done its annual High School Outreach Conference (HSOC) HSOC encourages and introduces high school students from the Bay Area to pursue careers in health sciences. They bring together dental, nursing, medical, graduate, pharmacy and physical therapy students for a true interprofessional experience for Bay Area highschoolers. Additionally, ADEA also does community outreach through oral hygiene instruction at several elementary schools included Lafyette Elementary school. ADEA Instagram
California Public Health Association (CPHA):
The California Public Health Association (CPHA) is a student organization that works to meet the needs of our communities dental health concerns. Their major yearly event is the UCSF Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) Day! Give Kids A Smile is an event hosted by CPHA-N at UCSF that provides free dental screenings, cleanings, and fluoride varnish to children ages 3-17 in the Bay Area. CPHA Instagram
Filipino Dental Student Coalition (FDSC):
FDSC’s mission is to unify the UCSF dental community in providing care and oral health education to the underserved Filipino population. Furthermore, we strive to develop interest in health professions in Filipino-American youth, create and maintain a network of information and resources between dental care professionals, and foster appreciation and awareness of Filipino culture. At FDSC, students have the opportunity to volunteer as a dental provider at Mabuhay Health center, a UCSF student-run free community health clinic targeting underserved Filipino-American residents of San Francisco.