Delta Dental of South Carolina Awards $100,000 in Oral Health Grants

To help meet the dental health needs of children and adults, Delta Dental of South Carolina – a leading dental benefits provider and non-profit organization – recently awarded $100,000 in oral health grant funding to two Charleston-area organizations in support of oral health initiatives and educational programming in South Carolina. The funding is part of the company’s annual mission giving efforts, which provided a total of $175,000 to five organizations in South Carolina.

Funding through Delta Dental of South Carolina’s Oral Health Grant Program supports the operations, programming, expansion efforts, and equipment costs for organizations working to improve oral health across the state. The North Charleston Dental Outreach received $50,000 to help equip three new operatories, doubling the number of North Charleston Smiles’ operatory clinics providing emergency dental care for the uninsured or those without the financial resources to seek needed relief from pain. The South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium received $50,000 to support the organization’s Rural Dentist Loan Repayment Program, which improves access to care for rural/underserved South Carolinians, by providing loan repayment to dentists serving in Geographic Health Professional Shortage Areas like Abbeville, Aiken, and Allendale.

The South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium is one of the organizations Delta Dental of South Carolina has been supporting since 2018 through a series of grants totaling $250,000. Based on historic patient averages, each funded dentist sees approximately 770 Medicaid patients for 1,300 visits per year and expands access to dental care in health professional shortage areas.

“I consider myself very lucky to have been selected to participate in the South Carolina Rural Dentist program,” said Lauren Callison, DMD, a 2021 Rural Dentist Program Loan Repayment Recipient practicing at Walterboro Family Dentistry located in Walterboro, South Carolina, a dental health professional shortage area. “Receiving funding has allowed me to practice in an area where there is more of a need for dental services, and I have been able to give back to many individuals who could not find an in-network provider for their dental work. We have been able to complete many procedures, including extractions, root canals, restorative work, dentures, and more, to many people who did not have access to care, and that has been incredibly rewarding. Had I not been given the opportunity to participate in the program, my educational debt may have hindered my ability to practice in a rural community, and I am very thankful for the support of the program which has allowed me to treat patients in these areas.”

“Our mission is to help people of all ages access vital dental care and educational services, so they can live better lives through improved dental health,” said Rob Goren, president and chief executive officer at Delta Dental of South Carolina. “As a non-profit, we are proud to partner with these organizations – some of which we’ve helped to support for a number of years – as they work to make a very real impact on the dental care needs of thousands of kids and adults.”

Delta Dental of South Carolina is currently accepting applications for the second grant cycle of its 2022 Oral Health Grant Program. To be eligible for an oral health grant from Delta Dental of South Carolina, applicants in South Carolina must first complete a letter of inquiry through the online application system at www.deltadentalsc.com/AboutUs/oral-health-grant-program, which includes program guidelines and application instructions. Online letters of inquiry are due on August 26, 2022, and online applications are due on September 2, 2022. Applicants must be considered tax-exempt under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or be a public or governmental entity, such as a public school or health department, and serve the people of South Carolina.