The Children’s Dental Center

The Health Trust, in partnership with Children's Dental Group opened the Children's Dental Center in East San Jose in June of 2008.  The Children’s Dental Center represents an innovative approach to providing pediatric dentistry that will significantly improve access to high quality dental care for the children of our local communities. It combines the latest equipment and technologies and the best practices of pediatric dentistry with a fun, kid-friendly environment that is welcoming to children and families of various cultures, income and education levels.

Frequently Asked Questions (English)

Frequently Asked Questions (Spanish)

For information and appointments, call: (408) 240-0250

Children's Dental Center
Tropicana Shopping Center
1153 S. King Rd.
San Jose, CA  95008

Meeting the Dental Care Needs of Santa Clara County Children

Rampant tooth decay among low-income children in Santa Clara County is a public health problem that has reached crisis proportions. In 2002, The Health Trust reported the results of the first-ever oral health needs assessment of local children. We found that 51 percent of kids from poor families enter kindergarten with untreated cavities. By the time they reach third grade, 72 percent have a history of tooth decay. What's worse, there is only capacity to treat up to 20,000 of the 140,000 low income children.

Today some 35,000 elementary school children in our county sit in their classroom with pain or swelling in their mouths. Untreated dental disease is a devastating, "silent epidemic," leading to distracted behavior at home and school, poor classroom performance and loss of self-esteem, as well as difficulty chewing and speaking.

Locally, there are only enough dentists to treat 20,000 low-income children-a major disconnect between the number of children at-risk for serious dental health problems and the size of the provider community needed to solve this giant challenge. There are simply not enough dentists or dollars to get the job done; leaving 120,000 children without access to care. This demand-supply imbalance cries out for a new paradigm-an entirely different way of delivering dental services to those who need them most. The Children’s Dental Center is a  6,000-square-foot facility unlike any other dentist’s office in Northern California.  With 14 chairs, the latest technology, and a peak efficiency business model fine-tuned by Children's Dental Group at its six offices in the Los Angeles region, the Children’s Dental Center will be able to provide as many as 15,000 dental appointments a year for Silicon Valley children, meeting the enormous need for quality care.