UCLA Faculty Dental Group Services: Comprehensive Oral Healthcare

The UCLA Faculty Group Dental Practice, along with the UCLA Dental Clinics and the UCLA Venice Dental Center, is committed to providing optimal customer service and quality, affordable dental care. Located in the heart of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the Faculty Group Dental Practice offers an ideal setting for excellent general comprehensive care and exceptional specialty service.

Commitment to Comprehensive Care

The UCLA Faculty Group Dental Practice comprises a team of general practitioners, dental specialists, and dental hygienists dedicated to meeting the diverse needs of patients of all ages. Having specialists and general dentists in the same practice allows the team to discuss individual dental needs and treatment options, ensuring efficient and coordinated care.

The practice is located on the UCLA Campus next to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Westwood Boulevard.

General Dentistry and Preventative Care

General dentists focus on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and disorders of the oral cavity. A general dentist provides treatment for most dental needs and will refer patients to a specialist when needed.

Dental hygiene focuses on preventive oral health, typically focusing on dental cleanings (prophylaxis) and techniques in oral hygiene. Dental hygienists provide three types of services to their patients:

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Preventive services to promote and maintain good oral health.
Educational services to help patients develop behaviors that promote better oral health and help them understand the importance of practicing these behaviors.
Therapeutic services which are treatments meant to stop disease and maintain healthy tissues in the mouth.

Specialized Dental Services

The UCLA Faculty Group Dental Practice offers a full range of specialist treatments, including:

Endodontics: Endodontists treat infected and traumatized teeth with the most up-to-date root canal techniques, thereby alleviating pain and saving teeth from extraction whenever possible.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Oral and maxillofacial surgeons provide a broad range of outpatient surgical procedures, including wisdom teeth extraction and dental implants. Surgeons consult with general practitioners and specialists in anesthesia and esthetic dentistry to determine the best course of treatment for each patient.
Orthodontics: Orthodontists use corrective appliances to bring teeth, lips, and jaws into proper alignment, thereby enhancing bite function and facial appearance in children and adults alike. The practice provides orthodontic services for adults and patients of all ages.
Pediatric Dentistry: Pediatric dentists encourage good dental care starting at an early age. UCLA pediatric dentists invite children as young as 12 months to visit and become familiar with the dentist's office, during which time parents learn ways to promote a lifetime of healthy dental habits.
Periodontics: Periodontists specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of the supporting and surrounding tissues of the teeth or their substitutes (placement of dental implants) and the maintenance of the health, function, and esthetics of these structures and tissues.
Prosthodontics: Prosthodontists, or reconstructive dentists, employ the latest technology to replace or reconstruct severely damaged teeth. Prosthodontists restore optimal dental function and aesthetics using dental implants, crowns, veneers, bridges, and full or partial dentures. Removable Prosthodontics included the design and fabrication of complete, immediate, or partial dentures to replace missing teeth.

Other specialized dental services available at UCLA include:

Esthetic Dentistry: Primarily focused on the appearance of the teeth and gums. They also perform limited periodontics and orthodontics treatment as concerned with esthetics. Available at our Center for Esthetic Dentistry.
Oral Medicine: Provides treatment for oral soft tissue conditions such as lesions associated with autoimmune and systemic diseases including HIV/AIDS, oral pre-malignant or malignant lesions as well as salivary gland diseases. Available at the Orofacial Pain Faculty Practice.
Orofacial Pain: Provides treatment for such conditions as Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disorders and obstructive sleep apnea (for patients who can't tolerate a CPAP device). Available at the Graduate Orofacial Pain and Dental Sleep Medicine Clinic and the Orofacial Pain Faculty Practice.
Oral Pathology: Takes tissue specimens and biopsies for diagnosis of disease. Available at the Oral Pathology Lab.
Oral Radiology: Makes X-ray images of teeth and jaws for diagnosis of disease. Available at the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Clinic.
Restorative Dentistry: Focused on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of caries, conservation of tooth structure, and the restoration of structurally compromised teeth, in an effort to restore form function and esthetics.

Exceptional Faculty and Advanced Technology

The highly accomplished faculty includes leaders in the profession - outstanding teachers who are preparing a new generation of dentists, super-specialists who welcome the most advanced challenges, and innovators who are reshaping the way we will diagnose and treat in the future. Many practitioners are highly sought after nationally and internationally for their clinical expertise.

The practice has access to state-of-the-art technologies in dentistry today, including digital radiography, which significantly reduces patient radiation exposure compared to conventional radiographs.

Healthy and Safe Environment

To provide a healthy and safe environment, the UCLA Faculty Group Dental Practice has taken every possible precaution to meet or exceed all sterilization guidelines. Patients can feel confident knowing that every instrument used is new, sterilized, or disposable. Steam autoclaves and cassette systems are closely monitored daily and tested weekly by a licensed commercial company. A 7-stage water purification treatment produces distilled-quality autoclave and dental water in all treatment rooms, and specialized techniques eliminate the formation of Biofilm or residues in water lines.

Provider Care Options and Fees

UCLA Dentistry offers General Dentistry at three provider care levels: faculty, residents, and student dentists. Fees vary by provider, and depending on the provider can be more affordable in comparison to the private sector. The Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield UCLA Venice Dental Center also offers these levels of care.

Student Dentists: Patient care is always our foremost concern, as we educate and train our talented students and other trainees, while fully supervised by our experienced faculty. Cost of care given by these providers is significantly reduced compared to a private practice and is an affordable option for your dental care needs.
Residents: Residency clinics offer advanced and specialized services administered by our residents - individuals who have successfully received a dental degree: DDS, DMD or equivalent.
Faculty: Fees comparable to private practices in the area.

Treatment by student dentists is always supervised by highly trained and experienced faculty. Treatment will be slower than in the private sector, as dental needs help educate and train student dentists -- appointments may last up to three hours. If dental needs are too complex for a student dentist, patients may be referred to a residency clinic. In the Faculty Group Dental Practice and other faculty practices, faculty members perform dental care on patients.

Insurance and Payment

The UCLA Faculty Group Dental Practice accepts Delta Dental insurance at all locations, and Delta Dental Premier at some clinics. Other PPO dental insurance is also accepted; however, patients are required to cover the upfront costs and will be reimbursed once the covered benefits are determined. Patients are responsible for costs of treatment not covered by insurance.

Patients without dental insurance can pay with cash, check, or credit card, and payment in full is due at the time of service. Unfortunately, HMO plans including Delta PMI are not accepted.

Emergency and Urgent Care

During Business Hours

The UCLA Dental Clinics offer urgent care services for non-patients of record; however, an urgent care appointment must be made prior to treatment, as walk-ins are not accepted. Call (310) 206-3904 to make an urgent care appointment as a new patient. Current patients should first try to contact their assigned student dentist or current clinic administrator for instructions. Otherwise, please call (310) 206-3904 to make an urgent care appointment.

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The UCLA Venice Dental Center offers urgent care by appointment only during business hours. Please call (310) 392-4103 to schedule an appointment. It is recommended that patients are seen with their original treating student, trainee, or resident dentist with the same faculty coverage. If this is not an option, patients may be directed to proceed with call-in urgent care as noted above.

Non-Business Hours & Scheduled Breaks for Patients of Record

Please call the page operator at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center at (310) 825-6301. Patients must tell the operator that they are a patient of the UCLA Dental Clinics and ask them to page the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) resident on call who will contact them directly. If you are a patient of the Venice Dental Center, please state that fact.

After Hours/Weekends/Holiday/Quarter breaks at the Venice location for Venice Dental Center patients of record: Please call the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and tell the page operator that you are a patient of the UCLA Venice Dental Center and ask them to page the Venice Advanced Education in General Dentistry (Venice AEGD) resident on call. The Venice AEGD resident will call you back directly. UCLA Medical Center Page Operator: (310) 825-6301.

There are fees associated with Urgent Care visits and associated radiographs. Specific urgent care procedures will vary from clinic-to-clinic.

Care for Special Needs Patients

The UCLA Dental Clinics in Westwood house a Special Patient Care Clinic, which specializes in advanced general dentistry for adult patients with complex medical conditions and physical, emotional, and mental disabilities.

Locations

Faculty Group Dental Practice: 100 Medical Plaza, Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6999, (310) 794-5750. Providers: Faculty
UCLA Dental Clinics, Westwood: 714 Tiverton Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095, (310) 206-3904. Providers: Student Dentists, Residents, Faculty
Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield UCLA Venice Dental Center: 323 S. Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA 90291, (310) 392-4103. Providers: Student Dentists, Residents, Faculty

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