OAK BROOK, Ill., Oct. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Access to oral
health care continues to be a challenge for millions of children
and adults, with some never having seen a dentist. Delta Dental is
committed to addressing this critical need across the United States. The not-for-profit national
association of the Delta Dental companies reports that its member
companies donated more than $61
million in direct and in-kind community outreach in 2017,
helping over 10.2 million individuals nationwide.
"The Delta Dental member companies' actionable investments in
communities across the nation demonstrate their genuine commitment
to improving lives, one smile at a time," said Steven R. Olson, president and CEO of Delta
Dental Plans Association. "As community partners, the Delta Dental
companies continuously evaluate where and how they can create
meaningful outcomes that can have a lasting, positive effect on
oral health and overall health."
So how are Delta Dental's philanthropic contributions making a
difference? By supporting 1,425 programs across the country last
year, the Delta Dental companies increased access to oral health
care through direct programming and financial support of dental
workforce education; provided treatment to at-risk children and
adults; and expanded oral health awareness, education and
wellness.
Oral health education as a priority
Outreach for oral
health education programs backed by the Delta Dental member
companies in 2017 exceeded 4.3 million persons. An example is the
continuation of the Land of Smiles® educational touring program
supported by Delta Dental of Missouri. Since 2002, more than 900,000
children have learned about the importance of good oral health,
with the help of Delta Dental's Tooth WizardSM, Tooth
Fairy, and PlaqueManSM characters. Learn more
here about how elementary school-aged children have
been engaged during more than 4,500 performances of the Land of
Smiles tour across the Show Me State.
Another oral health education endeavor includes the Cavity Free
Kids curriculum (developed by Delta Dental of Washington's foundation), which teaches early
learning (Head Start, child care, home visiting) providers about
what causes tooth decay and how to work with families to prevent
oral disease and promote good health. The curriculum is recommended
by Head Start's National Center on Early Childhood Health and
Wellness, and Cavity Free Kids trainings have been delivered in 19
states.
Additional oral health education examples follow: Delta Dental
of Arkansas leveraged Captain
Supertooth and the Tooth Fairy at a National Education
Association's Read Across America Day event to discuss how to keep
teeth happy, healthy and clean; the Delta Dental Foundation
collaborated with Girl Scout troops in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana on the Smile Squad oral health patch
program; and Delta Dental of Illinois offered the
Teeth-on-the-GoSM bookbag program to instruct
kindergarten through 2nd grade-aged students about good
dental care.
"We understand how a healthy smile changes a life — a smile can
boost confidence, express feeling, help get a job, and tell a
story," said Dr. Joe Dill, DDS, MBA,
Delta Dental Plans Association's vice president of dental science
and network strategy. "Establishing positive oral hygiene habits at
a young age is critical to laying the foundation for good oral
health. Delta Dental's oral health education programs are designed
to be informative and engaging, making them ideal for helping
brushers and flossers in training establish good habits for a
lifetime."
The Children's Oral Health Survey shows that children who brush
as often as they should are more likely than those who don't (67
percent versus 60 percent) to take pride in their smile. The "smile
pride" gap improves with flossing to 79 percent versus 63
percent.
In addition, the Delta Dental survey reveals that children who
brush their teeth two or more times a day are more likely than
those who brush less often to be proud of their personal success
(68 percent versus 48 percent), performance in school (66 percent
versus 47 percent), and good eating habits (45 percent versus 32
percent).
Establishing roots in dental prevention
Helping to
prevent oral health problems, before they occur, is at the heart of
many of Delta Dental's community benefits efforts. In 2017, more
than 4.2 million individuals were served by the Delta Dental
companies' dental prevention initiatives, including community water
fluoridation, school sealant programs, and screenings. As an
example, Delta Dental of Wisconsin
supports one of the most comprehensive school-based sealant
programs in the country in partnership with the state of
Wisconsin and Children's Health
Alliance of Wisconsin. The
Seal-A-Smile program helps to reduce the incidence of caries and
other oral health problems among school-aged children in vulnerable
segments of the population. In addition, Delta Dental of
Iowa sponsored the "Rethink Your
Drink" program to install water bottle filling stations at numerous
schools in Iowa to update or
replace existing water fountains.
Treating dental needs of at-risk Americans
Through the
Delta Dental member companies' community outreach, more than 1.3
million at-risk children and adults received treatments for dental
diseases and cavities. One example of assistance is the
continuation of a successful, multimillion-dollar mobile dental
program offered by Delta Dental of South
Dakota. Two fully staffed mobile dental clinic trucks tour
communities statewide on average 40 weeks per year to address the
oral health needs of underserved children. Click
here to view more about the mobile dental program.
Another illustration of assistance is support in 2017 from Delta
Dental of Minnesota Foundation, which expanded access to care for
more than 130,000 Minnesotans in need through increased capacity at
safety net dental clinics around the state. Delta Dental of
Minnesota Foundation made grants to more than a dozen
not-for-profit clinics in 2017 and had another 10 active grants
from prior years focused on access to care.
Addressing other local-level needs
More than 330,000
people benefited from the Delta Dental companies' support of oral
health research, dental workforce education, dental sponsorships,
and non-health-related aid, including helping with relief efforts
for natural disasters. As an example of a dental sponsorship, Delta
Dental of Arizona hit it out of
the ballpark with its participation in the No Chew Crew
anti-smokeless tobacco program, in partnership with the Arizona
Diamondbacks baseball team.
About the survey
The Children's Oral Health Survey
was conducted between December 13 and
December 28, 2017, among a nationally representative sample
of 1,322 parents of children ages 12 and under. The margin of error
is +/- 2.7 percent.
Follow us on Twitter @DeltaDental and Facebook: Delta Dental
Plans Association
About Delta Dental Plans Association
Delta Dental
Plans Association, based in Oak Brook,
Illinois, is the not-for-profit national association of the
39 independent Delta Dental companies. Through these
companies, Delta Dental is the nation's largest provider of dental
insurance, covering more than 78 million Americans, and offering
the country's largest dental network with approximately 154,000
participating dentists. In 2017, the Delta Dental companies
provided more than $61 million in
direct and in-kind community outreach support to improve the oral
health of adults, children and infants in local communities across
the country. For more information, visit: deltadental.com.
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SOURCE Delta Dental Plans Association