Pop-up dental clinic lets students brush up on their training, put smiles on young faces

IT’S WELL PAST most private practices’ office hours, but Disney radio is blasting on a bluetooth speaker at a pop-up dental clinic on the University of California San Francisco campus. A makeshift sign, taped to a folding reception desk, announces insurance consultations. In an adapted office cubicle, a child clutches an inflated blue nitrile glove while a pair of dental students inspect each tooth for signs of decay.

The Children’s Night Clinic, first opened on the UCSF’s Parnassus campus in 2018, reopened in January after nearly three years of closure due to COVID. On the first Wednesday of every month, the CNC offers free routine dental services provided by dentistry students. For patients without insurance, the out-of-pocket cost of an identical visit to SF Pediatric Dentistry for children aged 3-12 would be $414.