Grant Will Help Expand Access To Dental Care In Somerville

Southborough, MA – March 12, 2018 – The Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) Foundation recently awarded “Expanding Access to Dental Care” grants to five organizations in Massachusetts. The goal of the grants is to improve the oral health of residents of the Commonwealth by supporting sustainable programs that improve access to dental care.

The Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received a $15,000 grant to expand the ForsythKids portable dental program in Lynn and Somerville. The expansion of this program will help ForsythKids, under the direction of Kerry Maguire, DDS, MSPH, and Raffi Miller, DMD, to provide dental care services ranging from preventive cleanings to urgent treatment of oral disease for immigrant teens and other unaccompanied minors. The funds will offset program operating expenses, including support for full-time clinical staff (dentists, hygienists and dental assistants) who provide these services.

“Over the past two years, a growing number of new arrivals to the U.S. have been teens without parents or guardians,” said Dr. Maguire. “Many never visited a dentist in their homeland and face major challenges navigating the U.S. health care system in a foreign language and without traditional family support.”

“At Fecteau-Leary Junior/Senior High School – a magnet school for new arrivals in Lynn – dental care through ForsythKids is a critical part of much-needed services,” Maguire continued. “Thanks to previous support from the MDS Foundation, the number of students we are able to reach at this location in Lynn continues to grow. During the past school year, our staff saw a 50 percent increase in patients over the prior year.”

“With the continued support of the MDS Foundation and this new grant, ForsythKids will be able to expand to serve Somerville High School, another school working to educate and provide services to a growing group of minors who are arriving in the U.S. without adult supervision,” Maguire added.

ForsythKids provides preventive oral health care and education to underserved children in need across the Commonwealth, serving more than 2,200 infants, children, teens and young adults in Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Fitchburg, Holyoke, Hull, Randolph, Walpole and Cape Cod. The program actively seeks out patient populations who tend to have poorer oral health and greater challenges to accessing dental care: children living in poverty, communities of color and patients with developmental or intellectual disabilities.

While most of its clinical sites are school-based, the ForsythKids program also serves youth in transitional housing facilities as well as a center for teen moms and babies, and a day shelter for homeless teens. To facilitate a connection to a more permanent dental home, the program collaborates with community health centers throughout the region. The linkage with a permanent dental home is a key component of the program as it serves as a gateway to a lifetime of good oral health.

“The Massachusetts Dental Society is a valued partner in our effort to connect people in need to those who can help,” Maguire emphasized.

“Because of the generosity of MDS members and their desire to support an active Foundation, we are able to assist programs like ForsythKids in their efforts to improve the overall health of many Massachusetts residents who ordinarily might not receive care,” said MDS Foundation Chair Dr. Robert Lewando. “It is our hope that our Foundation will continue to grow so we can help sponsor additional services that will most benefit communities in need.”

###

The MDS Foundation is the charitable arm of the Massachusetts Dental Society. The MDS Foundation is dedicated to directing its charitable resources to improve the oral health of Massachusetts residents. To learn more, visit massdental.org/Foundation.