Dental Lifeline Network, a national nonprofit humanitarian organization, has launched a new website designed for dentists and dental laboratories interested in volunteering for its Donated Dental Services (DDS) program and for people to apply for donated dental care.
The new website features profiles of state programs, making it easy for prospective volunteers, patients, and referral agencies to learn more about the DDS program in their state. It highlights patient stories and recognizes the support of strategic partners, funders, supporters and medical specialty organizations that have endorsed Dental Lifeline's mission. The website's design and templates were donated by Henry Schein.
Through the DDS network of more than 15,000 volunteer dentists and 3,600 laboratories nationwide, people with disabilities or who are elderly or medically fragile and cannot afford dental therapies can apply for comprehensive treatment, according to the organization.
More people who are medically fragile are being referred to DDS, because dental disease prevents people with chronic health problems from receiving lifesaving medical treatments. Dental health is a prerequisite for cancer patients who need chemotherapy, candidates for organ transplants or kidney dialysis, people with autoimmune diseases who require lifesaving medications, cardiac patients who cannot be treated surgically, and patients with arthritis who need joint replacements.
For these people, lack of dental therapies can result in progressive illness or premature death. Although some patients are eligible for Medicare, it does not cover dental treatment and, in most states, Medicaid provides little or no dental care for adults.
Patients are treated in the dentists' offices, and the average value of treatment is more than $3,000. Every dollar raised or contributed results in more than $10 of professional services.
The DDS program reached a milestone in 2013 of donated dental treatment totaling more than $250 million to 120,000 people since it began in Colorado in 1985, according to the organization.
Dental Lifeline is a charitable affiliate of the American Dental Association.
For information to become a volunteer dentist or laboratory or to make a donation, visit www.DentalLifeline.org or call 888-471-6334.
