County of Orange
Health Care Agency

Juliette A. Poulson, RN, MN
Director

Mark B. Horton, MD, MSPH
Deputy Agency Director/Health Officer
Public Health Services

Mailing Address:
405 W. 5th Street
Santa Ana, Ca 92701

E-Mail: PublicInfo@ochca.com
 

For Immediate Release
January 2, 2002

Contact: Howard Sutter
(714) 834-2178

(Santa Ana) – A dentist who is Board Certified in Dental Public Health has been selected as the new Dental Officer for the Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA).

The appointment of Michael Mahshigian, D.D.S., M.P.H., to the position of Dental Officer was announced by County Health Officer Mark Horton, M.D. As Dental Officer for HCA, Dr. Mahshigian directs programs that provide over 12,000 dental visits annually. This includes programs serving children, juveniles housed in county probation facilities, individuals with dental emergencies, and individuals who are HIV positive. The role of Dental Officer also includes the consideration of community oral health programs that may benefit larger numbers of county residents. Dr. Mahshigian assumed his new responsibilities during November 2001.

For the past two years, Dr. Mahshigian served as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry. Previously, Dr. Mahshigian held the positions of Dental Director for the Aetna US Healthcare Dental Plan of California and Assistant Dental Director for Western Dental Services in Garden Grove. He is one of fewer than 150 people nationwide to achieve the status of Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health.

Dr. Mahshigian received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed his residency in Dental Public Health at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, a division of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

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