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Kern County

Overview of Findings

Through the Public Health Services department, children in the Child Health and Disability Prevention program receive well-child medical screenings, which include an oral health assessment.  Case managers contact families to follow-up on assessments and make referrals.  Families also receive enrollment assistance for insurance programs such as First 5, Kaiser Kids, Medi-Cal, and Gateway Medi-Cal.  The Public Health Services department also conducts a “school round-up.”  A dental hygienist visits schools throughout the county to educate and provide AB1433 oral health assessments.  First 5 funding is available only for the 4 to 5 year-old children who need a complete exam and follow-up treatments. 

The Healthy Promotions Dental Program offers dental care to uninsured adults in Kern County.  The program has an annual budget of $40,000 to provide free care to patients who are in need of dental services.  The program recruits dentists and dental hygienists to conduct cleanings, x-ray, and exams.  Patients who are in the most need of services are prioritized and sent to one of the 11 dentists in their network or the dental site at Bethany Homeless Shelter.  Currently, there are approximately 150 patients on the waiting list. 

Transportation issues, language barriers, and a lack of providers who accept Medi-Cal were identified by key informants as access barriers.  When asked about barriers to providing care, a key informant brought up the non-cooperation between dental and medical providers.  The informant explained that children could receive fluoride varnishings by medical providers, but the dental community believes dental procedures should be provided by dentists. 

Fresno County

Data

The following links lead to visual representations of the data collected in the surveys for this county. Maps in the 'slideshow' have accompanying text that helps explain what is visually taking place as well as comparing the results of this county's maps to the results for the rest of the region. The PDF maps have no explanation text and are only the visual image.

View Map Slideshow

Download Map PDFs:

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