Community Health Center

CLCHC Family Health Center

27800 Medical Center Rd, Mission Viejo, CA 92691-6410

CLCHC Family Health Center is a community health center dental clinic in Mission Viejo, CA, operated by Celebrating Life Community Health Center, which runs 4 clinics in California.

The health center is open about 40 hours a week, though dental sessions are usually a subset of that.

Clinic Details

Address27800 Medical Center Rd, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Phone949-866-3600
Operated byCelebrating Life Community Health Center
ProgramHealth Center Program look-alike

A look-alike meets every requirement of the federal Health Center Program — including the income-based sliding fee discount and seeing patients regardless of ability to pay — but does not receive the federal grant that funds the others. For you as a patient the discount works the same way; what differs is the funding behind it.

Planning Your Visit

27800 Medical Center Rd, Mission Viejo, CA 92691

The published number is 949-866-3600. 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. Where the thresholds fall is decided by Celebrating Life Community Health Center, so what a friend paid elsewhere is not a guide. 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 orthodontics, for braces and alignment, oral and maxillofacial surgery, for surgical extractions and jaw procedures, and pediatric dentistry, for children 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

Do I have to pay on the day?

Commonly yes, at least the discounted portion, and some clinics ask for it before treatment rather than after. Ask what is due at the first visit, because a discount determination and the first appointment are sometimes separate visits.

Will I see a dentist or a hygienist?

Depends on what you booked. A cleaning is normally a hygienist; an examination, filling or extraction is a dentist. Some clinics run hygiene appointments on different days from dentist appointments, which is worth knowing before you take time off.

What if this clinic cannot take me?

Other clinics run by the same organization and the nearest alternatives are listed further down this page, each with its own waiting list. Dental school and dental hygiene teaching clinics are a separate route worth trying in the same area.

Is the building accessible if I use a wheelchair?

Federally supported facilities are subject to accessibility requirements, but the practical questions — whether the dental chair can be transferred to, whether the accessible entrance is the one you would arrive at — are worth asking directly rather than assuming from the front door.

What if I have no income at all?

Health centers deal with this routinely and have a procedure for applicants who cannot document income — usually a signed declaration. Being unable to prove income is not a reason to stay away; say so when you call so they can tell you what to bring instead.

Can I just walk in?

Rarely for dental, even where the medical side takes walk-ins. Dental chairs are booked by appointment because each one occupies a room and a clinician for a set time. Call first; a walk-in dental visit is usually reserved for emergencies.

Other Clinics Operated by Celebrating Life Community Health Center

Celebrating Life Community Health Center operates 3 other clinics in 2 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. The income assessment usually transfers between sites in the same organization, which saves repeating the paperwork. 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 as the crow flies. Wait times are set clinic by clinic, so ask each one rather than assuming.

Confirmed Payment Options

Income-Based Fees

Call CLCHC Family Health Center

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

949-866-3600

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