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Community Access, Reach and Education
in Pediatric Dentistry (CARE-PD)
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ABOUT CARE-PD (Formerly SPICE-PD & CHAT-PD)

The UCLA Section of Pediatric Dentistry began the process of transforming its postdoctoral pediatric dentistry training programs in 2006, with a goal of preparing pediatric dentists to more effectively meet the substantial and growing oral health needs of underserved children within the context of individual children, families and communities.

In 2020, UCLA Section of Pediatric Dentistry was awarded continued Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) funding to support innovation within pediatric dental residency and interprofessional education through the CARE-PD program. This program will continue to enhance pediatric dentistry residency curriculum and clinical experiences and expand reach of dental education into community partners through four main goals:

  1. Expand Integrated Oral and Primary Health Care through Interprofessional Education/Practice and Expand the Dentist/Masters in Public Health (DDS/MPH) Dual Degree Program.
  2. Establish a Telehealth Project with Children First Early Head Start to Increase Access to and Utilization of Oral Health Care Services for Low Income Minority Families.
  3. Develop an Oral Health Curriculum for Rural/Migrant Head Start/Early Head Start (HS/EHS) Families in Collaboration with HS/EHS Staff/Teachers Using a Train-the-Trainer Model.
  4. Enhance the Policy and Advocacy training module to train our providers to better understand the social determinants of health, systems-change approaches, and how to effectively advocate and be leaders for children’s oral health.

As health care evolves, it is evident that we must prepare new pediatric and general dentists to embrace working “across disciplines” using the key interprofessional principles of collaboration, cooperation, and communication, in order to better serve patients. This is particularly important in meeting the needs of underserved and high-needs populations.

Following the Children’s Oral Health Framework three dimensional model of children, families and communities, we aim to develop and implement a multi-pronged approach to training our residents to meet the needs of the communities they will serve. Additionally, residents will gain experience in the ever-expanding field of telehealth technology through projects that aim to reach community members of all backgrounds.
  • UCLA School of Dentistry
  • UCLA Section of Pediatric Dentistry
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UCLA School of Dentistry
​Established in 1960, the UCLA School of Dentistry is a nationally recognized center of excellence in dental education, research and patient care. The Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) program emphasizes comprehensive diagnosis and treatment, and prepares approximately 100 graduates annually -- including a group of internationally trained dentists seeking additional training in the US. The School also sponsors 12 dental residency programs, including three residency programs in pediatric dentistry and two residency programs in general dentistry.

UCLA Section of Pediatric Dentistry
Since 1970, the UCLA Section of Pediatric Dentistry has been dedicated to improving pediatric oral health by educating residents, students, and health care practitioners on the physical and mental growth and development of children and the practice and science of pediatric dentistry. The Section offers advanced education programs in pediatric dentistry: one based at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences in Westwood, and two community-based programs which have their primary clinical training sites in the Venice and Inglewood communities in West Los Angeles.
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Community Health and Advocacy Training in Pediatric Dentistry (CHAT-PD, 2006-2015)

Two new multidisciplinary, community-based Community Health and Advocacy Training in Pediatric Dentistry (CHAT-PD) residency programs were initiated in Los Angeles (2006) and San Diego (2008) with HRSA Title VII, Section 747 support. These programs differed from prior traditional programs in that they provided clinical experience predominantly in community clinics serving high-risk and underserved populations and contained a community health and advocacy training (CHAT) curriculum component modeled after an innovative UCLA program for primary care pediatric residents. While a strong clinical program had been established for these programs, CHAT-PD required additional efforts and resources to fully develop, formalize, integrate and implement new curricular elements into the existing curriculum; to recruit, develop and retain CHAT-PD faculty expertise; and to develop and implement sustainable distance learning technologies across all UCLA Pediatric Dentistry residency programs. CHAT-PD ended in 2015.

Strategic Partnership for Interprofessional Collaborative Education in Pediatric Dentistry (SPICE-PD, 2015-2021)

The overall purpose of the HRSA-funded SPICE-PD program was to augment and advance the pediatric resident training provided through the UCLA CHAT-PD program to more effectively prepare dentists to meet the growing oral health needs of children with special needs, and those from underserved, high-need vulnerable populations in the Los Angeles area.

SPICE-PD was strategically developed with goals that align with the direction in which health care was moving, keeping in mind the needs of the community and trainees involved in the program. The project had three main goals:
  1. Establish an Integrated Oral and Primary Healthcare Clinical Training Program for UCLA Community Health and Advocacy Training in Pediatric Dentistry (CHAT-PD), Advanced Education General Dentistry (AEGD), Pediatric Medicine, and Nursing Programs.
  2. Update and enhance existing CHAT-PD residency curriculum to prepare postdoctoral pediatric dentists to provide care for underserved and special needs groups and communities in the evolving field of dentistry.
  3. Enhance training in dental public health and population health management for UCLA CHAT-PD and AEGD residents through a partnership with the UCLA School of Public Health.
The project attained these goals with the design of didactic curriculum and clinical experience integrated in a community-based interprofessional setting. The complete implementation of this proposal produced highly trained pediatric dentists equipped to better serve the community and children with special health care needs. AEGD, Pediatric Medicine, and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) residents also received both didactic and clinical training in working with children ages 0-5 years.

Additionally, SPICE-PD implemented an innovative approach to mobile dental services by collaborating with the UCLA Breathmobile van to integrate pediatric dental services in collaboration with pediatric medicine. The project demonstrated significant cost savings and an effective strategy of collaboration for delivery of services.