Community Health Center

Gardner Packard Children's Health Center

3351 El Camino Real, Suite 100, Atherton, CA 94027-3802

650-497-8820 Directions Website

Gardner Packard Children's Health Center is a community health center dental clinic in Atherton, CA, operated by Gardner Family Health Network, which runs 6 clinics in California.

The health center is open about 51 hours a week, though dental sessions are usually a subset of that.

Clinic Details

Address	3351 El Camino Real, Suite 100, Atherton, CA 94027
Phone	650-497-8820
Operated by	Gardner Family Health Network
Program	Health Center Program (federally funded)
Site schedule	Full-Time
Operating calendar	Year-Round

Planning Your Visit

3351 El Camino Real, Suite 100, Atherton, CA 94027

The published number is 650-497-8820. It may be a shared scheduling line. Say which site you mean and that you want dental rather than medical, or you can be booked into the wrong queue.

Things to settle on the phone first: the dental hours, and which days appointments run, whether new dental patients are being taken, and the current wait, what a first visit costs, before and after any discount, whether your insurance or Medicaid dental plan is accepted, by plan name, and what to bring for the sliding fee application.

Dental Services

This clinic has not published a list of the treatments it provides. Expect the routine treatments to be available. The question worth asking is about the expensive ones: root canals, dentures and oral surgery are handled in house at some health centers and referred out at others.

Costs and Coverage

Charges are set against household income and household size rather than a fixed fee schedule. Because Gardner Family Health Network sets the thresholds itself, the same household can pay different amounts at two different health centers. Ask them to run your household through it before you commit to a treatment plan. Our guide to applying for the discount lists the documents to bring.

No Medicaid registration has been recorded for this clinic, which is not the same as Medicaid being refused. What California Medicaid covers for adults is a state decision and has been cut and restored in several states; for children the benefit is required nationally. The Medicaid dental page covers how to check yours.

Dental Providers at This Clinic

Alongside general dentistry, providers registered in endodontics, for root canal treatment and orthodontics, for braces and alignment practice at this address. That is not the same as the clinic taking new patients for those treatments, or the discount covering them, so name the treatment when you call.

Common Questions

Can they do specialist work here?

Providers in more than general dentistry are registered at this address, which is listed further up the page. That does not mean the clinic is taking new patients for those treatments or that they fall inside the discount, so name the treatment when you call.

Do I need to be a US citizen?

No. The Health Center Program does not set citizenship or immigration status as a condition of being seen, and clinics in it are not required to ask. What they do need is something to work out your fee, which is income and household size rather than status. If this is the thing keeping you from calling, ask what they require before you decide not to go.

What if I need a specialist they do not have?

You would normally be referred out, and a referral from a health center does not carry the discount with it — the outside specialist charges their own fee. Ask what the referral would cost before starting anything that depends on it, because that is the point where an affordable plan often stops being affordable.

Is Medicaid accepted?

It has not been confirmed either way for this clinic, which is not the same as no. In most states the dental benefit runs through separate managed care plans, so call with the dental plan name printed on your card rather than asking about Medicaid in general.

Do they see children?

Health centers are generally set up for families and children’s dental coverage is a required Medicaid benefit in every state, so this is usually yes. Minimum ages and whether children are seen on the same days as adults do vary, so ask when booking.

Is the discount worked out on gross income or take-home pay?

Normally gross, before tax and deductions, which surprises people who budget by what lands in the account. Ask which figure this clinic uses and over what period, because a year that included a few months of higher earnings can put you in a band that does not reflect what you have now.

Other Clinics Operated by Gardner Family Health Network

Gardner Family Health Network operates 5 other clinics in 3 other communities in California. Asking the scheduling line which site can see you soonest is usually faster than calling each in turn; the shortest wait is not always the closest clinic. A sliding fee determination made at one of its clinics commonly carries across to the others, so income documents may not need providing twice. What is treated at one site is no guide to another, so confirm with the clinic you actually intend to visit.

Other Dental Clinics Nearby

Distances are straight-line, not driving. Waiting times differ sharply between neighbors, so call more than one.

Gardner Packard Children's Health Center - Suite 102 — Atherton, at the same address
Fair Oaks Health Center — Redwood City, less than a mile away
Ravenswood Family Dentistry — East Palo Alto, about 4 miles away
39th Avenue Campus - Outpatient Clinics — San Mateo, about 6.8 miles away

Confirmed Payment Options

Income-Based Fees

Call Gardner Packard Children's Health Center

Confirm current dental services, appointment availability, costs and accepted insurance directly with the clinic.

650-497-8820

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