Tom's of Maine gives $100K to dental clinics

Mar 24, 2010

Tom's of Maine (TOM's) will donate $20,000 each to five dental clinics around the U.S. as part of its Dental Health for All program, the company announced March 25. The award winners were chosen from 16 candidates through a vote by consumers conducted on the TOM's Web site.

The site posted videos made by each clinic competing for the awards on its site.

The clinics will use the money to waive fees, increase dental appointments for children, offer greater access to x-ray services, provide a mobile dental team, and purchase supplies, among other purposes, the company said.

The winning clinics are:

Families First Health and Support Center, Portsmouth, NH: With this sponsorship, the clinic will send a mobile dental team to provide dental care at sites convenient for homeless people, with no appointments needed and no fees, and increase the number of subsidized visits offered for follow-up treatment.
Family Health Centers of San Diego, San Diego, CA: This sponsorship will help the clinic provide treatments and procedures for families experiencing a demonstrated financial hardship.
Manos De Cristo, Austin, TX: The funds will help start a new clinic to increase access and the level of care to patients in need by purchasing supplies such as x-ray film, needles and syringes, suture materials, impression materials, infection control products, anesthetics, and gloves.
Spanish Catholic Center, Washington, DC: The clinic will use the funds to install digital radiography systems in two of its five operatories.
St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island, North Providence, RI: The clinic will use the funds to purchase a dental operatory and related equipment and supplies.

"Every day millions of Americans go without proper, quality dental care because they simply can't afford it," said Susan Dewhirst, goodness programs manager at TOM's, in a press release. "Nonprofits continue to see their budgets slashed as state dental programs are cut across the country. TOM's continued investment in Dental Health for All aims to make up for some of those funding losses so clinics can continue to provide critical services to the communities."

TOM's Dental Health for All program has helped make 204,000 additional patient visits possible with more than 25 school and community-based dental clinics receiving funding totaling more than $900,000 over the last few years, the company said.