UCLA VETERANs SERVICES

UCLA Veteran Services

OPERATION BRUIN SMILES
LEARN MORE

OBJECTIVE

To create the first program of its kind in the nation that provides both subsidized dental care and a pipeline to the dental profession for UCLA student veterans and/or former foster youth. Specifically, Operation Bruin Smiles aims to encourage these two underserved student populations to become patients of record at the UCLA Dental Clinic and to receive quality dental care through this subsidy program. In addition, this program would engage in targeted outreach efforts to raise awareness in the field of dentistry and guide students from these populations to enter the dental school pipeline.

SUMMARY

There are approximately 400 total undergraduate and graduate UCLA student veterans and former foster youth who would be eligible for the Operation Bruin Smiles. This program would address the access to care issues of these populations by bridging the gaps in student insurance by subsidizing copays for procedures that are not fully covered by the University of California Student Health Insurance Program (UC­SHIP) or by Denti­Cal. This subsidy would only be valid at the UCLA Predoctoral Dental Clinic, and thus, would directly increase our patient pool with these two underserved student populations. Veterans and foster youth populations typically face issues of access to care, and this program provides these two student groups with direct access to high ­quality, affordable dental care. Both veterans and foster youth are vulnerable populations that face significant barriers to reliable health and dental care due to lack of awareness of resources, income disparities, and the inefficiencies of bureaucratic government assistance programs. In addition, the UCLA School of Dentistry would directly benefit from such a program by increasing its patient pool with responsible, but underserved patients who have a significant need for dental care. In addition to providing dental care, the program will engage in targeted outreach efforts to encourage these two student population to consider a career in dentistry by inviting them to participate in pre­dental outreach programs organized by the UCLA ASDA Veterans Services Committee and the UCLA ASDA Pre­Dental Outreach Committee. The UCLA School of Dentistry has received considerable publicity for developing its diversity pipeline through the post­baccalaureate program and pre­dental outreach programs. Since veterans and foster youth often come from low­income and underrepresented minority communities, this program could contribute in accordance with those outreach efforts. This proposed dental subsidy program is a benefit to all parties involved. This program would likely bring much positive publicity to our school as an innovative student­run initiative. This is a great opportunity to connect the many supporters who are sympathetic to these populations and are willing to contribute to our cause to make the program sustainable and expandable. Veterans and foster youth are two groups that have historically received unanimous public support.


The dental needs of homeless and impoverished Veterans are well documented. Dental care is consistently ranked as one of their top three unmet needs, alongside long-term permanent housing and childcare. Dental problems, such as pain and/or missing teeth can be tremendous barriers in seeking and obtaining employment. Homeless Veterans have twice the adjusted odds for reporting a need for dental care when compared to homeless non-Veterans. Homeless Veterans also have a greater mean number of decayed teeth compared with the general male population. Additionally, 46% of homeless Veterans who were surveyed complained of oral pain, as compared with 2.5% of the general male population. Studies have shown that after receiving dental care Veterans report significant improvement in perceived oral health, general health, and overall self-esteem. Thus, dental care is an important aspect in improving the standard of living of homeless and impoverished Veterans. Our goal is to help homeless and impoverished Veterans of Los Angeles County who have served their country honorably but may not have access to or be eligible for dental care. Dental benefits for Veterans are provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides full dental care coverage to Veterans that were formerly prisoners of war, have a service-connected compensable dental condition, or are 100% disabled due to a service-connected condition. Veterans who don’t meet these specific criteria have limited dental benefits and may not receive the care they need. There are over 320,000 Veterans in Los Angeles County and it is estimated that only 21.8% of them actually utilize their Veteran Healthcare Benefits.

Supporters

UCLA
Dentistry

UCLA HEALTHY CAMPUS INITIATIVE

MAYOR ERIC
GARCETTI

Extra Section

This is some text inside of a div block.
Tab Button 1
Tab Button 2
Tab Button 3

Some Title Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.
Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat.
Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Heading

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.
Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat.
Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Heading

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.
Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat.
Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

IN THE NEWS
UCLA Daily BruinHumanitarian AwardUCLA NewsroomPat Tillman Award
useful links
UCLA Bruin Resource CenterUCLA Healthy Campus InitiativeUCLA SPARK CrowdfundingNew Directions for Veterans
social
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Google