SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California and affiliates, today announced $16.3 million in funding to nonprofit organizations through an Access to Care Grants Program intended to increase and safeguard access to quality, affordable oral health care. The program is offered across the company's 15-state service area and Washington, D.C.

The Community Care Foundation funds local community partners to increase access to care, address health disparities, drive health equity and promote innovation in the oral health field. The grants enable its nonprofit partners, which include Federally Qualified Health Centers, to provide vital and beneficial services to those most in need in the communities they serve. This year's grants represent the program's largest annual funding to date. The grants are focused on three critical areas of need: the oral health crisis among older adults, health equity and rural oral health access.

Through these grants, the Community Care Foundation has significantly impacted the lives of many community members, including six-year-old Flora, who received oral health care through Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County in California.

When Flora visited the organization's Garden Grove clinic a few weeks before her sixth birthday, she was experiencing dental pain and discomfort. Upon examination, the Healthy Smiles team learned that she had progressive dental decay, which led to multiple abscessed teeth requiring extractions. Because Flora has asthma, the team quickly conducted a consultation with her physician to ensure she was a good candidate for dental treatment under general anesthesia. Once cleared, Flora's mother stated that she wanted to take the first available appointment to alleviate Flora's pain – even if that meant surgery on her birthday.

On her sixth birthday, Flora's care team extracted nine of her 20 baby teeth, placed five crowns and completed one filling. Now experiencing relief, Flora and her mother are grateful for the personalized dental treatment provided by Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County.

"This year's Access to Care Grants are focused on addressing the most pressing issues facing oral health care today, from the senior oral health crisis to health equity to access to care in rural communities," said Kenzie Ferguson, vice president of foundation and corporate social responsibility for Delta Dental of California and affiliates. "Each of these focus areas represent critical areas of opportunity in improving access to care, and the partnerships supported by Access to Care Grants play a vital role in enabling us to advance our shared goal of helping to make the communities we serve stronger, healthier and more resilient."

About Delta Dental Community Care Foundation 
The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California and its affiliated companies, including Delta Dental Insurance Company, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and Delta Dental of New York, Inc. Since 2011, the Community Care Foundation has awarded more than $150 million in funding and support to increase access to quality dental care, oral health education and to advance scientific research across the company's 15-state service area and Washington, D.C. For more information about the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, please visit https://www1.deltadentalins.com/foundation.html

About Delta Dental of California and affiliates
Since 1955, Delta Dental of California and affiliates has offered comprehensive, high-quality oral health care coverage to millions of enrollees and built the strongest network of dental providers in the country. The Delta Dental of California enterprise includes its affiliates Delta Dental Insurance Company; Delta Dental of Pennsylvania; Delta Dental of New York, Inc.; Delta Dental of the District of Columbia; Delta Dental of Delaware, Inc.; and Delta Dental of West Virginia, and provides dental benefits to more than 31 million people across 15 states and the District of Columbia.* All are members of the Delta Dental Plans Association based in Oak Brook, Illinois, the not-for-profit national association that through a national network of Delta Dental companies collectively covers millions of people nationwide. For more information about Delta Dental of California and affiliates, please visit www.deltadentalins.com.

*We provide dental benefit plans in Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

For more information, contact: 

Nick Mueller
Director of Corporate Communications
Delta Dental of California and affiliates
nmueller@delta.org

Caitlin Dong
Senior Corporate Communications Consultant
Delta Dental of California and affiliates
cdong@delta.org

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SOURCE Delta Dental of California and affiliates