Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children Continues Grant Initiatives
Application Deadline September 1, 2010

Every child deserves a healthy start in life, but when it comes to oral health, many children face significant challenges. Children in low-income families tend to have higher rates of tooth decay and have greater difficulty accessing ongoing basic dental care. Some key points that highlight the severity of the problem include:

  • Over 40% - 50% of children will be affected by tooth decay before age 5.
  • Of the 4 million children born each year, more than half will have cavities by the time they reach second grade.
  • While 9 million children in this nation do not have medical insurance, more than twice that number -- 23 million -- do not have dental insurance.
  • Oral health issues affect children in poverty and minorities far more than other groups.
  • According to the May 2000 Surgeon General's report, Oral Health in America, more than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental-related conditions.
These statistics are staggering! And they are the very reason HSHC has partnered with the AAPD and the Office of Head Start on the Head Start Dental Home Initiative. It is also the reason the Grants and Programs Committee of the HSHC Board of Trustees has worked tirelessly to develop a new service-based focus for the Foundation. HSHC will address key barriers to comprehensive quality oral health care for all children -- specifically Access to Care. In addition, the Foundation will invest in research through our new Oral Health Research Grants and the Future Dental Researcher Fellowship, to ensure that we can provide the most up-to-date science and evidence-based care to all children.

Through these new initiatives, Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children is poised to be the leading advocate for children's oral health care. For more information, including how to apply for a Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children grant, please view the links below:

Investing in Access to Care - HSHC Access to Care Grants
Investing in Research - HSHC Oral Health Research Grants
Investing in the Future - Future Dental Researcher Fellowship

 

The Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children 2009 Annual Report contains additional information on applying for these exciting new grant initiatives.

Click here to download the 2009 Annual Report.

 

 

Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children 2010 Grant Recipients

Beginning July 1, 2010, HSHC will fund five Access to Care Grants totaling $75,264.Combined these initiatives will impact more than 238,000 children over the next five years.

 

  • The Ohio State University "Nisonger Center Johnstown Road Access to Care" - $20,000

The Nisonger Center is a dental home serving 3,457 children and families annually in Franklin County, Ohio. It provides diagnostic, preventive, comprehensive restorative and 24-hour emergency care to underserved, low income preschool and school age children through age 21, including children with disabilities. The grant will be used to replace and add equipment and supplies. The project manager is Dr. Edward Sterling.

 

  • Indiana Dental Association "Born to Smile Program" - $15,000

Born to Smile is a prevention education program targeting parents of newborn children and the dentists who provide in-office education and care. The IDA will use the HSHC grant to produce and distribute an educational DVD to all dentists in the state of Indiana to promote the program and encourage dentists to incorporate infant visits into their practices. It is estimated that this program will reach more than 156,800 children over the next 5 years. The project manager is Doug Bush.

 

  • Geisinger Health System Foundation "Every Smile Counts" - $12,849

The Every Smile Counts program will seek to change the culture for dental prevention in rural central Pennsylvania, and establish a dental home for almost 3,000 babies per year. The program will utilize the full extent of the Geisinger Health System to reach, educate and ensure a first dental visit for these children at 6 months of age or shortly thereafter through use of their electronic health notification system. The project manager is Dr. Lance Kisby.

 

  • The Dental Foundation of Oregon "The Tooth Taxi Mobile Dental Clinic" - $20,000

The Tooth Taxi is a 38-foot state of the art dental office on wheels that delivers dental care and oral health education to underserved children in rural communities throughout the state of Oregon. The HSHC grant will be used to fund oral hygiene kits and educational materials, promote dental volunteerism, and fuel the Tooth Taxi's full-time pediatric dentist and staff - all of which will serve over 8,000 children per year over the next 5 years. The project manager is Dr. William Ten Pas.

 

  • PDI Surgery Center - $7,415

PDI Surgery Center is a stand-alone dental surgery clinic that provides dental surgery, community outreach and educational resources for underserved children from birth to age 12 in Northern California. PDI serves approximately 1800 children per year through the clinic. PDI will use the grant from HSHC to purchase two new anesthesia monitors and two new syringe pumps for the clinic. The project manager is Julie Tucker, RN.