Delta Dental Grants $700K for Dental Care for Poor

Thousands of at-risk children, seniors, and developmentally disabled individuals will have access to dental care this year thanks to $700,000 in grants awarded to 28 community organizations and programs in New Jersey and Connecticut by the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation. The foundation is the charitable arm of Parsippany-based Delta Dental of New Jersey.

A goal of the grants is to reduce the number of complex and urgent dental work resulting from the lack of preventive care, catching problems earlier to reduce complications later. The funds are designed to help the uninsured and underserved, specifically children whose families are at or below the federal poverty level, the developmentally disabled, and vulnerable seniors.

At-risk populations face the greatest barriers to dental care access, making them statistically in most need of preventive and urgent care and financial assistance for it. The organizations that the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation funds include health departments, colleges and universities, hospitals, health centers, mobile dental units, school-based dental clinics, and other groups. Money will be used to buy new equipment, establish new dental services and expand existing programs, increase mobile service access, create and expand dental education, extend hours and staff, and more.

The Morris County entities being awarded grants are:

• Morristown Medical Center, Dental Program for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Morristown: The Leonard Szerlip Dental Center, the only place in the county where pediatric, economically disadvantaged, and developmentally disabled populations can get access to dental services at no cost. Pediatric residents will also be trained in pediatric dental development and how to apply fluoride varnish.
• Morristown Medical Center, Senior Smiles Program, Morristown: The fund helps provide the supplies, materials, and lab fees that allow comprehensive, no-cost dental services for the area’s charity care geriatric patients, many of whom have no source of income other than Social Security. 
• Zufall Health Center, Dover: The grants allow the expansion of Zufall’s pediatric dental program for underserved children, including facilitating the integration of dental screening and preventive services with existing pediatric medical services.