Reopening of Dental Clinic

A nurse works on the teeth of a boy at the Farm Workers Health Clinic at Arroyo Camp. A boy, seated, observes. Delano, California, 1967. Photo by John Kouns.

Dental care was an area of great need among farmworkers and their families. A nurse at the health clinic described it this way: “I’m talking about people who go around for days and weeks using their own home remedies for extreme pain out of desperation: Oil of cloves, aspirin, ice.” Fifteen volunteer dentists used to cover this need over the weekends but in December of 1966, the dental clinic was closed because the State Board of Dental examiners said the clinic was illegal. By May 1967, however, the health clinic was able to secure a license in and June El Malcriado announced the reopening of the dental clinic, resuming the work of the volunteer dentists to Delano.

A volunteer dentist examines an older woman’s teeth at the farmworkers’ dental clinic in Delano, California, 1966. Photo by Emmon Clarke.

A nurse works on the teeth of a boy at the Farm Workers Health Clinic at Arroyo<br />
Camp. Dr. David Brooks leans to observe the procedure while a woman, a man, and<br />
a boy observe. Delano, California, 1967. Photo by John Kouns.

Nurse works on the teeth of a boy at the Farm Workers Health Clinic, Arroyo Camp, Delano, CA, 1967

A nurse works on the teeth of a boy at the Farm Workers Health Clinic at Arroyo Camp. Dr. David Brooks leans to observe the procedure while a woman, a man, and a boy observe. Delano, California, 1967. Photo by John Kouns.

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