Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation Awards Nearly $775,000 in Local Grants for Oral Health Services and Education
(GLENDALE, Ariz. – Jan. 25, 2021) – Delta Dental of Arizona, through its Foundation, selected 30 non-profit organizations across the state as recipients of grants and dental supplies to improve the oral health of Arizonans. These funds, $774,322, were awarded to support projects and services promoting good oral health practices and increasing access to dental care among underserved children, pregnant women and seniors throughout 2021.
Grants were awarded via two programs: Community Grants and IMPACT Grants.
Community grants ranging from $2,500 to $30,000, as well as dental supplies as needed, were presented to 26 Arizona nonprofits, including:
- A New Leaf
- Arizona Dental Foundation
- Arizona Oral Health Coalition
- Barrow Neurological Foundation
- Children’s Museum of Phoenix
- Dental Lifeline Network
- Desert Senita Dental Clinic
- Dignity Health Dental Clinic
- Esperança
- Great Arizona Puppet Theater
- HNC Living Foundation
- Marana Community Health Center
- Mountain Park Health Center Tempe Clinic
- National Kidney Foundation
- North Country Health Care
- Phoenix Rescue Mission
- Prescott Area Shelter Services
- River Cities United Way
- Senior Citizens of Patagonia
- Southern Arizona Oral Health Coalition
- Southwest Human Development
- Sunset Health
- Tohono O’odham Community Health Center
- United Community Health Center
- UofA Mobile Unit
- Verde Valley Medical Center
In 2020, Delta Dental launched its IMPACT Grant program. Through it, four organizations earned two-year grants totaling $100,000 each, with $50,000 awarded in 2020 and $50,000 awarded in 2021. Nonprofits that were invited to apply for these grants provide oral health services and education to over 650 children, pregnant women or seniors and have a proven record of fiscal and reporting responsibility. The IMPACT recipients are:
- Tooth BUDDS, which is a group of affiliated practice dental hygienists who serve the children of Graham and Greenlee counties by providing dental screenings, dental cleanings, sealants, fluoride varnish, Silver Diamine Fluoride applications and restorations free of charge at the convenience of their school location. Tooth BUDDS utilizes teledentistry to communicate the needs of these students with their affiliated dentist to expedite the restorative procedures necessary for complete oral health care.
- Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix Dental Clinic, which provides preventive and restorative oral health services to at nearly 900 low-income, uninsured youth in Metro Phoenix. The program directly reduces the students’ school absenteeism due to dental pain.
- Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health (NOAH) Smiles for Kids, which is a school-based, oral health education and screening program provided to children in schools and community events in Title 1 schools in the Scottsdale Public School District and Paradise Valley School District. This program promotes the importance of oral health for school readiness and effective learning.
- El Rio Health Center’s Pediatric Dental Integration Program, which expands direct screening, varnish and oral health education by embedding dental hygiene teams in five El Rio Health locations throughout Tucson.
“Since 1997, the mission of the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation has been to improve lives by promoting optimal oral health,” said Delta Dental of Arizona President and CEO Allan Allford. “Our commitment to this mission continues, and we are proud of the support we are able to provide to these on-the-ground programs across Arizona, in cities big and small, that are making a true impact in their communities each day.”
About Delta Dental of Arizona
Delta Dental of Arizona is the leading dental benefits provider in Arizona, serving more than 1.2 million enrollees and more than 3,500 contracted dentists across the state. Passionate about oral health and its importance to generations of families, Delta Dental of Arizona has worked for nearly 50 years to improve oral health by emphasizing preventive care and making dental coverage accessible to a wide variety of employers, groups and individuals. Since 2010, Delta Dental of Arizona, through its Foundation, gave $12 million to support oral health education and disease prevention programs for underserved and uninsured communities across the state. For more information about Delta Dental of Arizona, visit www.deltadentalaz.com.
