Dental Lifeline Network (DLN) founder, president, and CEO Dr. Larry Coffee is the Oral Health America (OHA) 2019 Champion for Change Honoree. He will receive the award at OHA’s Champions for Change Gala on February 20, 2019, at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Coffee founded DLN while in dental school to help his sister, who was critically ill and unable to find care. DLN is a national nonprofit organization that provides access to dental care and education for people who cannot afford it and have a permanent disability, who are age 65 or older, or who are medically fragile.
“OHA is excited to honor Dr. Coffee with this well-deserved award. Since retiring from DLN, he has actively advocated for Medicare to redefine the concept of ‘medically necessary,’ which would help millions of people who are currently delaying care,” said Beth Truett, president and CEO of OHA.
“As part of our Medicare Coalition, Dr. Coffee is key to providing the experience and stories of people who desperately need this benefit. He is an esteemed colleague and a dear friend of OHA,” Truett said.
Coffee is best known for DentaCheques, a DLN program that has generated $330 million in dental treatment for 112,000 patients in all 50 states. More than 15,000 dentists and 3,700 laboratories serve as volunteers who provide care.
A Fellow of the American College of Dentists, Coffee has received the ADA’s Distinguished Service Award, the ADA/Colgate Palmolive Award for Outstanding Service, the Frederick McKay Award for Excellence in Preventive Dentistry from the Pierre Fauchard Academy, and the Northwestern University Alumni Award of Merit.
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