It's all part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's request for every city agency to trim their budgets.

Cuts they said they'd rather not make, but they are hoping will hurt the least.

"We maximize our federal and state revenue, we look for efficiencies, but when times get tough like this, as we have been in a recession for a year, we do have to look at our service portfolio," said Andrew Rein, Deputy Commissioner, New York City Department of Health.

Plans to shut down dozens of city run children's dental clinics by the end of June are ruffling the most feathers.

The health department is quick to point out that it currently only serves about 17,000 children each year, less than one percent of oral health services for low-income families.

Health officials said children on Medicaid will be directed to other providers.

It's a plan that was condemned by the New York State Dental Association. Dentists like Dr. Steven Platt at the Ryan Community Health Center said they worry it's a burden that will be difficult for clinics like his to absorb and that families will skip checkups for their kids instead of finding new providers.

"I really believe, out of these children, a lot are not going to find a new dental home, and dental health is going to just be deserted for them," said Platt.

Looking at the big picture, the health department's cuts across the board may not seem hugely significant. But some public health advocates said no matter how small, they're still off the mark.

"They are absolutely targeted wrong. Taking away public services now, is a very big mistake. We have lived through it happening in the past, and then spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to restore programs that were cut," said Judy Wessler, New York City Commission on Public Health Systems.

Health officials reiterate they plan to reduce spending where cuts will have the least impact and depending on state and federal dollars coming to the city they may need to look to trim a bit more.