Kern Medical gets $2 million in state funding for new mobile dental unit

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Kern Medical is getting $2 million in state funding to launch a new mobile dental unit aimed at bringing care directly to Kern County residents who have trouble getting to a dentist because of cost, transportation or time off work.

Courtesy: Kern Medical

The $2 million investment was secured by state Sen. Melissa Hurtado and will go toward Kern Medical’s new mobile dental unit. The goal is to take dental services into communities across the county.

Public health officials say Kern County’s size, combined with a shortage of dental providers, can make access to care difficult both in rural areas and in Bakersfield.

“Almost all of Kern County falls into a dental health care provider shortage area, which means that we just do not have enough dentists in our outlying areas,” said Cassandra Mulder, a supervising public health nurse.

Courtesy: Kern Medical

Mulder said the challenge is not limited to areas outside Bakersfield, adding that there are not enough providers for the population in the city as well. For families in outlying communities, she said, the distance to care can mean losing an entire day of work.

“In Kern County, if you're in an outlying area such as Arvin or Lamont or Maricopa, it could be almost a two-hour drive... So it can take a whole day of work just to come in and get these appointments done,” Mulder said.

Public health officials say the impact is especially visible among children. Of the schools that reported kindergarten oral health assessment data last year, 27% of students had untreated decay, and 4% had urgent dental needs.

Credit: Kern Medical

Kern Medical said the mobile unit is intended to help close those gaps.

“We hear stories all the time, people living in pain, you know, and not being able to afford the treatment that they need... And being able to bridge that gap is our goal,” said Danielle Colbert, Kern Medical’s director of marketing.

Kern Medical said the project is still in the early stages of design and production, and it may be many months before the mobile unit is on the road.