Northern California-based Dientes Neighborhood Dental Care and Salud Para La Gente Be part of Washington, D.C. Coalition Companions to Tackle Oral Well being Care Disaster Amongst Older Adults in U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Delta Dental Neighborhood Care Basis, the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California, as we speak introduced the addition of two Northern California-based well being care companions, Dientes Neighborhood Dental Care (Dientes) and Salud Para La Gente (Salud), to its Senior Oral Well being Coalition Program. The multi-year program launched in April 2022 to deal with the oral well being disaster amongst older adults within the U.S. The brand new California companions be a part of current Washington, D.C. coalition members, Howard College School of Dentistry and Mary’s Heart, to advertise the connection between oral well being and general well being, enhance entry and create higher fairness within the care and remedy older adults obtain.

A December 2021 report by the Nationwide Institutes of Well being cited adults aged 65 years and older as essentially the most critically underserved for oral well being care within the U.S. A current survey commissioned by Delta Dental additional underscores this well being disaster and located that 80 % of older American adults don’t get to the dentist as typically as advisable, with entry being one of many principal obstacles. The quantity is even decrease in Santa Cruz County, California, which Dientes and Salud serve, the place a 2022 oral well being wants evaluation revealed that just one in 4 seniors with Medicaid had been in a position to get the dental care they wanted.   

“With a rising senior inhabitants throughout the nation and within the communities we serve in Santa Cruz County, entry to high quality and reasonably priced dental look after a various inhabitants of low-income seniors is a crucial a part of our mission to offer dignity by way of dentistry,” stated Laura Marcus, chief government officer, Dientes. “This partnership with the Neighborhood Care Basis and our colleague in well being, Salud, will create a mannequin that different communities can use to increase entry to dental look after our seniors so that they depend their lives by smiles, not by tears.”

As neighborhood well being facilities, Dientes and Salud are longstanding companions of the Neighborhood Care Basis and supply complete dental and well being care companies for the underserved in Santa Cruz County. As members of the Senior Oral Well being Coalition Program and co-founders of Santa Cruz County’s Oral Well being Entry coalition, Dientes and Salud will collaborate with the Neighborhood Care Basis to ascertain transformative applications that target bettering well being fairness and the oral well being of older adults, significantly these of coloration.

“We’re thrilled the Neighborhood Care Basis has supplied Salud and Dientes with beneficiant funding to help our Senior Oral Well being Coalition Program, which is able to go an extended strategy to increase our work to make sure seniors in our area can entry the oral care they badly want,” stated Dori Rose Inda, chief government officer, Salud. “We intend to lower the disparities and obstacles seniors face in receiving oral well being care by preserving fairness on the middle of our work. With this vital grant, and in partnership with Dientes, we’re keen to make sure all seniors have entry to the standard dental care they deserve and have to dwell wholesome lives.”

For the reason that launch of the inaugural Senior Oral Well being Coalition in Washington, D.C. final yr, Howard College School of Dentistry and Mary’s Heart, a Federally Certified Well being Heart, have collectively supplied almost 900 older adults with reasonably priced, high-quality oral well being care companies and managed greater than 4,250 dental remedy encounters, together with 532 restorative procedures and 207 oral surgical procedures, and provided 133 units of prosthodontics.  

“The dedication and onerous work of our companions have already had a profound and constructive influence on the lives and well being of many underserved older adults within the Washington, D.C. metro space,” stated Kenzie Ferguson, vice chairman of basis and company social accountability for Delta Dental of California. “We’re excited to see the methods through which Dientes and Salud will deliver comparable profit to the oral well being of older adults all through Santa Cruz County.” 

The broader objectives of the Neighborhood Care Basis’s Senior Oral Well being Coalition Program embody figuring out, assessing and addressing the socioeconomic and systemic causes of poor oral well being amongst older adults, significantly these dwelling in poverty; making a replicable mannequin for community-driven oral well being options; and bettering high quality of life for seniors by lowering oral care disparities. Coalition companions acquire knowledge on affected person pathology, remedy, obstacles to entry and social determinants of well being. The data is utilized to determine efficient interventions and inform the Delta Dental Senior Oral Well being Care Mannequin, which might be replicated as this system develops. The mixing of an educational companion will even allow the event of the longer term oral well being care workforce who might be treating the senior inhabitants. The Neighborhood Care Basis will increase this system to different communities and partnerships over the following three to 5 years.

About Delta Dental Neighborhood Care Basis
The Delta Dental Neighborhood Care Basis is the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California and its affiliated firms together with Delta Dental Insurance coverage Firm, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and Delta Dental of New York, Inc. Since 2011, the Neighborhood Care Basis has awarded greater than $100 million in funding and help to extend entry to high quality dental care, oral well being training, and to advance scientific analysis throughout the corporate’s 15-state service space and the District of Columbia. For extra details about the Delta Dental Neighborhood Care Basis, please go to https://www1.deltadentalins.com/basis.html

About Delta Dental of California
Since 1955, Delta Dental of California has supplied complete, high-quality oral well being care protection to hundreds of thousands of enrollees and constructed the strongest community of dental suppliers within the nation. The Delta Dental of California enterprise consists of its associates Delta Dental Insurance coverage Firm, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania, Delta Dental of New York, Inc., in addition to the nationwide DeltaCare USA community, and offers dental advantages to greater than 44 million individuals throughout 15 states and the District of Columbia*. All are members of the Delta Dental Plans Affiliation based mostly in Oak Brook, Illinois, the not-for-profit nationwide affiliation that by way of a nationwide community of Delta Dental firms collectively covers hundreds of thousands of individuals nationwide. For extra details about Delta Dental of California, please go to www.deltadentalins.com 

*Delta Dental of California’s working areas embody Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

For Extra Data, Contact:

Tom Sarris
Director, Company Communications
Delta Dental of California
[email protected]

Caitlin Dong
Senior Company Communications Guide
Delta Dental of California
[email protected]

SOURCE Delta Dental of California