Delta Dental of Arizona (DDAZ), through its Foundation, has selected 30 nonprofit organizations across the state as recipients of grants and dental supplies to improve the oral health of Arizonans.
These funds, $774,322, were awarded to support projects and services promoting good oral health practices and increasing access to dental care among underserved children, pregnant women, and seniors throughout 2021.
Grants were awarded via the Community Grants and IMPACT Grants programs.
Community grants ranging from $2,500 to $30,000 as well as dental supplies as needed were presented to 26 Arizona nonprofits:
- A New Leaf
- Arizona Dental Foundation
- Arizona Oral Health Coalition
- Barrow Neurological Foundation
- Children’s Museum of Phoenix
- Dental Lifeline Network
- Desert Senita Dental Clinic
- Esperanca
- Great Arizona Puppet Theater
- HNC Living Foundation
- Mountain Park Health Center Tempe Clinic
- National Kidney Foundation
- North Country Health Care
- Phoenix Rescue Mission
- Prescott Area Shelter Services
- River Cities United Way
- Senior Citizens of Patagonia
- Southern Arizona Oral Health Coalition
- Southwest Human Development
- Sunset Health
- Tohono O’odham Community Health Center
- United Community Health Center
- UofA Mobile Unit
- Verde Valley Medical Center
In 2020, DDAZ launched its DDAZ Impact Grant program. Through it, four organizations earned two-year grants totaling $100,000 each, with $50,000 awarded in 2020 and $50,000 awarded in 2021.
Nonprofits that were invited to apply for these grants provide oral health services and education to more than 650 children, pregnant women, or seniors and have a proven record of fiscal and reporting responsibility. The IMPACT recipients are:
- Tooth BUDDS, which is a group of affiliated practice dental hygienists, serve the children of Graham and Greenlee counties by providing dental screenings, dental cleanings, sealants, fluoride varnish, silver diamine fluoride applications, and restorations free of charge at the convenience of their school location. Tooth BUDDS uses teledentistry to communicate the needs of these students with their affiliated dentist to expedite the restorative procedures necessary for complete oral healthcare.
- The Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix Dental Clinic provides preventive and restorative oral health services to nearly 900 low-income, uninsured youth in Metro Phoenix. It directly reduces the students’ school absenteeism due to dental pain.
- Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health Smiles for Kids is a school-based, oral health education and screening program provided to children in schools and community events in Title I schools in the Scottsdale Public School District and Paradise Valley School District. It promotes the importance of oral health for school readiness and effective learning.
- The El Rio Health Center’s Pediatric Dental Integration Program expands direct screening, varnish, and oral health education by embedding dental hygiene teams in five El Rio Health locations throughout Tucson.
“Since 1997, the mission of the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation has been to improve lives by promoting optimal oral health,” said DDAZ president and CEO Allan Allford.
“Our commitment to this mission continues, and we are proud of the support we are able to provide to these on-the-ground programs across Arizona, in cities big and small, that are making a true impact in their communities each day,” Allford said.
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