Dental Care
I’ve been pretty busy the last couple weeks and haven’t really had the time to post. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I haven’t written about oral health in a while and there are several funding opportunities you should know about.
A few months ago the Pew Center on the States released a report on how well we are (or aren’t) providing dental care to children. The Cost of Delay finds that 20% of children do not have access to annual dental care. They’ve graded the states based on a series of benchmarks; Wisconsin rated only a C. To address the lack of oral health care, which is especially severe in rural areas, the authors outline several steps, such as water fluoridation and getting kids treated with sealants.
The Children’s Health Alliance is accepting proposals for the Wisconsin Seal a Smile program. The program awards grants to school-based sealant projects. Previous awards have ranged from $1,200 to $50,000 per program.  Due to the significant increase in funding, current and new programs are encouraged to apply. Applications are due June 25. See the Alliance’s website for more information or contact Matt Crespin, oral health project manager, at (414) 292-4002.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program is accepting letters of intent through June 18 for their development and implementation grants. These aren’t limited to oral health projects. These grant funds support Wisconsin-based projects that develop strong community-academic partnerships specifically focused on health promotion, disease prevention, health policy and health disparities. Groups awarded grants work closely with academic partners to achieve their program goals. Contact the Program for more details—they have a lot of training resources. In case you’ve never done a letter of intent before, they’re like a mini-application; you’ll give a brief description of your proposed project, the need for it, etc. If funders are interested, they will ask you to submit a full proposal. In this case, the full proposals will be due October 1.
The Wisconsin Dental Association provides grants up to $10,000 to programs providing dental care to underserved populations and education on oral health care. Eligible expenses include
- dental supplies, equipment and other operating expenses for a low-income dental clinic;
- dental health education conducted at schools, health fairs and social agencies, via mobile dental clinics or outreach programs;
- dental health education programs in conjunction with preventive programs such as fluoride and dental sealant application programs;
Proposals are due August 31.
If you are a dental care provider, here’s a great opportunity to volunteer. The Special Olympics Special Smiles program is looking for volunteers to perform or assist with oral health screenings. They’re recruiting dentists and dental hygienists to perform oral screenings, oral health education and mouth guard fabrication. Wisconsin Special Olympics Special Smiles events will take place on Friday, June 11, at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Saturday, August 14, in Eau Claire and Friday, December 3, at State Fair Park in West Allis.
June 4, 2010
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KJacobson · 
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Tags: Children's Health, Grant Opportunities & Assistance, Oral Health, Reports and Studies · Posted in: Grant Advice, Reports and Studies
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Lees Summit Dentist | Dr. Ebony Browne's Blog | Eye Glasses | Eye Doctor | Norcross - June 17, 2010
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