Access to Care Grantees

What is an Access to Care Grant?

Access to Care Grants, funded by donations to the Foundation, enable non-profit, community-based clinics that provide care to children who would otherwise go without. Children in need can have rampant decay and serious infections – some have never seen a toothbrush. Too many live in constant pain.

Access to Care Grants

Putting our mission into action

Since 2010, the AAPD Foundation has been supporting healthy smiles and nurturing children’s health by awarding Access to Care Grants to clinics across the country.

What do we fund?

Anesthesia

Translation Services/Bilingual Staff Member(s)

Dentist Chairs

Salary

Educational Pamphlets

Transportation

Car Rides

Dental Instruments

Toothbrushes & toothpaste

Access to Care Grantee Recipients

One Year Grantees

One Year Access to Care Grants support local clinics that demonstrate a commitment to providing comprehensive oral health care to all children. Any organization that meets the application requirements can apply. The Foundation is proud to support:

AltaMed Health Services
Los Angeles, CA
Asian Health Services
Oakland, CA
CommuniCare Health Centers
San Antonio, TX
Children’s Dental Services
Minneapolis, MN
Community Volunteers in Medicine
West Chester, PA
Dental Connections, Inc.
Des Moines, IA
Ezra Medical Center
Brooklyn, NY

Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County
Garden Grove, CA
Infant Welfare Society of Chicago
Chicago, IL
KinderSmile Foundation
Bloomfield, NJ
Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic
Lancaster, PA
North East Medical Services
Daly City, CA
NorthLakes Community Clinic
Ashland, WI
Providence Portland Medical Foundation
Portland, OR

Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine
Stony Brook, NY
Texas A&M Foundation
College Station, TX
The Denver Health Foundation
Denver, CO
The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Baltimore, MD
Variety Care, Inc.
Oklahoma City, OK
Waukesha County Community Dental Clinic
Waukesha, WI

Current Three Year Grantees

The Foundation believes in nurturing communities. Improving dental health care access requires time, innovation, and solutions as unique as the children they serve. We invite our most impactful One Year Access to Care Grantees to apply for Three Year Access to Care Grants.

CommuniCare Health Centers
San Antonio, TX
Caridad Center
Boynton Beach, FL
Community Volunteers in Medicine
West Chester, PA
Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic
Lancaster, PA

Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society
Oak Park, IL
Salt Lake Donated Dental Services (SLDDS)
Salt Lake City, UT
University of Maryland
Baltimore
Variety Care and Variety Care Foundation
Oklahoma City, OK

Children’s Dental Foundation
Long Beach, CA
Cass Community Healthy Foundation
Belton, MO
Dental Aid
Louisville, CO

Current Three Year Access to Care Grantees

CCDC is the only full-time safety net dental clinic for children in Cass County, Missouri. CDCC provides quality, compassionate, and culturally sensitive dental services to many new patients who have never seen a dentist. The most significant barrier for Cass’s patient population is an inadequate number of dentists to serve the low-income population. This Access to Care Grant is funding a portion of dentist’s salary, portion of hygienist’s salary, and portion of patient care coordinator salary so the clinic can continue providing comprehensive oral care to impoverished children.

Visit CassCommunityhealth.org to learn more.

CommuniCare works to educate parents and patients alike, helping eliminate the cycle of poor oral health often seen within impoverished families. The Access to Care grant money covers a portion of the salary of CommuniCare’s pediatric dental provider, who see patients at both the East and West campuses of the clinic and provides pediatric patients with oral exams, cleanings, sealants, fillings, extractions, stainless steel crowns, pulpotomies, space maintainers, nitrous oxide, and levels 1 and 2 sedations. This funding will enhance CommuniCare’s ability to continue providing specialty care to San Antonio’s most vulnerable communities.

Visit CommuniCareSA.org to learn more.

SLDDS works diligently to increase equity by advancing access to essential and critical healthcare in their community despite the social determinants of health. Children often present at the clinic in need of extensive dental care. Oftentimes the only way SLDDS can provide the dental care they need is with general anesthesia services. The Access to Care Grant is funding sedation services for children who require it. SLDDS’s pediatric dentist and board-certified anesthesiologist work to complete all necessary procedures and treatment to restore the child’s oral health in a single appointment. Typical pediatric sedation day procedures include extractions, fillings, pulpotomies, crowns, space maintainers, sealants, fluoride varnishes, and prophylaxis. Each child will also receive a dental exam, cleaning and x-rays.

Visit donateddental.org to learn more.

CVIM provides preventive, restorative and emergency services, along with oral health education and dental hygiene supplies for low-income, uninsured members of their community. Many of these families speak primarily Spanish. The Access to Care Grant is funding additional hours for a bilingual pediatric dentist who is certified to use nitrous oxide. This is important for young children with significant issues who may have never seen a dentist and react with strong anxiety. The grant is also funding wages for a dental assistant who works chairside with the dentist, coordinates care with families, and helps facilitate CVIM’s partnership with local school districts.

Visit cvim.org to learn more.

LCPC is a safety net provider for children with special needs in a dental health provider shortage area. Their patients experience congenital conditions, severe dental disease, medical, and/or behavioral conditions requiring specialized care. The Access to Care Grant is funding the expansion of comprehensive care to more pediatric patients with special health care needs, including additional clinical staff members, enhancing existing pediatric dental equipment, and recruiting an additional pediatric dentist. This gives the clinic increased capacity to address its high demand for services.

Visit cleftclinic.org to learn more.

The IWS Children’s Clinic provides affordable dental care to low-income children in western Cook County, one of the only safety nets for families with public insurance or no insurance. Infant Welfare Society provides full preventive and restorative care, including oral exams, oral health education, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, extractions, cavity repair, and space maintainers. The Access to Care Grant is supporting the salaries of the clinic’s pediatric dentists. With this, the clinic can provide care for children with special health care needs, children who have complex or extensive oral health problems, and children with behavioral health challenges.

Visit oprfiws.org to learn more.

Caridad Center is a dental care safety net to marginalized community members and offers a full range of free dental services, including oral care and prevention education, cleanings, extractions, emergency treatments and surgeries. The Access to Care Grant is expanding Caridad’s resources to include an additional pediatric dentist on staff and additional hours of operation for pediatric appointments on Saturdays so children
do not miss school.

Visit caridad.org to learn more.

Dental Aid aims to provide comprehensive dental care for their community’s low-income individuals and families, particularly those affected by high cost of living. The Access to Care Grant is funding part of a hygienist’s salary, a new dental chair and x-ray machine, part of salary for a Patient Outreach Coordinator, and direct subsidies for children’s oral healthcare – sealants, restorative treatments, outreach patient visits, and hospital-based care on an as-needed basis – so Dental Aid can expand and improve their capacity to care for underserved children.

Visit dentalaid.org to learn more.

The Multi-Specialty Pediatric Dental Treatment and Education Program is an ongoing program at the Children’s Dental Health Clinic, which serves the Greater Long Beach community with quality dental treatment and oral health education. Pediatric dentists and residents provide comprehensive pediatric dental treatment and oral health education to underserved children and young adults, including those with special needs and/or medical considerations in a multi-specialty care, hospital-based clinic setting and in the hospital O.R. setting. The Access to Care Grant is helping to fund CDHC’s Pediatric Dental Residency Director and salaries of the pediatric dentists on staff so CHDC can grow their Specialty Care Dental Treatment Program, clinic size, and capacity.

Visit cdhc.org to learn more.

OH-UUC addresses the oral health needs for their community’s undocumented children and children from limited income, uninsured families, providing preventive and comprehensive care including chronic disease management, oral health education, preventive services, restorative care, and advanced behavior guidance techniques including nitrous oxide and sedation. A high percentage of undocumented patients come from Spanish-speaking families, and a bilingual staff member contacts those families to set up appointments and works with providers for needed patient communication. The Access to Care grant is helping OH-UUC expand to include advanced services such as permanent teeth endodontics, minor surgical procedures (performed by oral surgery), early orthodontic interventions, and treatment in the operating room setting.

Visit dental.umaryland.edu to learn more.

Variety Care is the only Central Oklahoma organization offering uninsured people comprehensive oral health care. Most of their patients struggle with poverty and the toll a lack of financial resources has on their health. Often children will need treatment under anesthesia, but hospital operating room time is minimally available, even for patients with insurance or who can self-pay. Barriers are even more significant for low-income, uninsured patients. The Access to Care Grant is funding sedation and dentist costs so Variety Care can provide sedation in a clinic setting as appropriate for individual patients.

Visit varietycare.org to learn more.

AAPD Foundation