The Angel City Dental Society is comprised of African American Dentists in Southern California. Our membership includes both general dentists and specialists. Our main membership base is centered in Los Angeles and the adjacent cities and suburbs.
What sets us apart as a dental society is our strong commitment to the community via oral health education, overall education and health care. This is evidenced through our community service programs , projects and initiatives. We believe that appropriate health care for all is a human right and not a privilege.
Mission
To foster comprehensive oral health care and to promote oral health access, awareness and sustainability in the community via culturally appropriate outreach, professional development, disparity elimination and the recruitment and support of underrepresented minorities into the dental profession.
History
The Angel City Dental Society (ACDS) was founded in 1932 as the Los Angeles Dental Study Club. The dental study club was renamed the Alva C. Garrott Dental Study Club after the first African-American dentist to be licensed in the State of California. Dr. Garrot was instrumental in organizing the society.
Since, in those days, African-American dentists were not welcome in the American Dental Association, this study club served as the only opportunity for Southern California dentists of color to keep abreast of the scientific advances in the field of dentistry. These dedicated dentists were highly respected for their contributions to their community as well as for their professional skills. One member, Dr. Alva C. Garrot, was the first President and later President Emeritus of the Los Angeles Urban League. Another member, Dr. H. Claude Hudson, was one of the original founders of the NAACP. Over the years, the organization grew very rapidly in membership and in 1966, it was renamed the Angel City Dental Society. Today, ACDS is recognized as one of the strongest and most active components in the National Dental Association.
In addition to honing the professional skills of their members by inviting the top experts in dentistry to lecture at their monthly continuing education seminars, ACDS has also been very instrumental in the training of dental and community leaders. Our members have served as Presidents to the National Dental Association, the Los Angeles Dental Society, the San Gabriel Dental Society and the USC School of Dentistry Alumni Association. They have served as professors and department heads in various dental schools. They have entered politics and have served as Mayors, Congressman and Assemblymen. They have been appointed to such prestigious positions as President of the California Board of Dental Examiners. Realizing that the future of any organization is in it’s young, ACDS and it’s auxiliary has been very instrumental in providing scholarships, annually, to deserving dental students.
ACDS served as the Coordinator of the Colgate Bright Smiles-Bright Futures Program. Using Colgate’s well equipped dental van, ACDS has provided free dental examinations to children located in the under served areas of Southern California, from San Diego to Santa Barbara. ACDS has, and will continue to have, a positive influence on all of the Southern California communities.
The organization served as the host chapter for the 2004 National Dental Association Convention. Additionally, the members launched and sponsored the National Dental Museum’s traveling exhibit, The Future is Now! African Americans in Dentistry at the Los Angeles African American Museum. All of this while continuously participating in numerous Health Fairs, Career Days and Health Care Panels in the Greater Los Angeles Area.