Giving Back
Stories that highlight acts of kindness whether through time, a donation, or services.
A MINDFUL Approach to Compassionate Community Care
***This story appears in the UCLA School of Dentistry's Spring 2024 Magazine***
By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
School of Dentistry Volunteers Moored in Care Harbor Once Again
The School of Dentistry’s community service initiatives made an impactful return in 2021-22, following a hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether coordinated by faculty or the 40-plus student-run organizations and associations, the Bruin dental community fanned out across Southern California to volunteer during the past academic year.
$1.67 million Delta Dental Community Care Foundation gift empowers new School of Dentistry initiative
The UCLA School of Dentistry will increase access to comprehensive oral health care among geriatric and special needs populations through a new program made possible by the support of the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation’s largest-ever single gift to a dental school. The Community Care Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California.
What goes well with tacos? Toothbrushes!
From cleanings to root canals to extractions in decidedly non-dental office environments, a core part of UCLA dental students’ education includes critical oral health care delivery to people in underserved communities.
Centennial Campaign Honor Roll
The UCLA School of Dentistry wishes to recognize and thank the following individuals, corporations and foundations whose extraordinary generosity and exemplary vision enables us to pursue our mission of excellence in teaching, research, patient care and public service. Each gift is an investment in the future of the oral health profession.
Ensuring the future growth of restorative dentistry
“ANY TIME YOU REAP THE BENEFITS OF SOMETHING THAT HAS AFFORDED you a successful career, it’s your responsibility to ensure those same opportunities are available to others,” said Dr. Naomi Ellison, UCLA DDS Class of 1981. “I always intended to give back to the school and feel fortunate that I am able to in several capacities.”
Lighting the Way
1967 - A health survey shows that Venice Beach residents need dental care more than any other service. Advocates approach the UCLA School of Dentistry with a proposal to open a community clinic.
1968 - Approvals from Chancellor Charles Young and dental school dean, Dr. Raider Soggnaes, move the clinic project forward. A grant for $38,000 is secured for start-up costs.
Dr. Philip Trask Finds Wealth In Giving Back
Philip Trask has been a butcher’s apprentice, an artilleryman, a telephone lineman and, at one point, a juvenile gang member. But it’s as an instructor and mentor at the UCLA School of Dentistry that the longtime pediatric dentist found a true calling, one that has complemented his years of service to the wider Los Angeles community.