Delta Dental foundations award $1.5M for state programs

Delta Dental foundations have awarded more than $1.5 million to dental programs in the U.S. for 2014.

The Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation has pledged more than $800,000 in grants to 33 community programs in New Jersey and Connecticut. The grants will help reduce complex and urgent dental cases resulting from the lack of preventive care and detecting problems earlier to reduce later complications, according to the foundation.

The funds will help the uninsured and underserved, specifically poor children, the developmentally disabled, and vulnerable seniors.

The Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation has pledged $716,000 to 30 oral health organizations and educational institutions in Virginia. The grants are meant to improve the oral health of residents through education, expansion of access to care for the under- or uninsured, or research to advance oral health, according to the foundation.

The funds will go to free and community-based health clinics and dental safety-net programs, public oral health education initiatives, and dental curricula at Virginia universities.

The Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation has awarded $25,000 to the nonprofit group Just Kids Dental (JKD) to increase access to dental care among second-grade children in Carlton County. The two-year grant will help expand the sealant program JKD conducts in the county's schools, according to the foundation. The Carlton County has been designated as a low-income dental health professional shortage area.

Founded in 2006, Just Kids Dental provides oral health screenings, prophylaxes, fluoride varnish applications, sealants, oral health and nutritional education, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss to underserved children in 40 school and community sites in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. By conducting these clinics at local schools, JKD eliminates barriers to care facing some families, such as a lack of transportation, time, and resources.