2009 Mobile Dental Grant Recipients

Many nonprofit organizations submitted proposals to the Mobile Dental Grant Program during the 2009 funding cycles. The Grant Selection Committee reviewed proposals and selected the following organizations as recipients of 2009 Mobile Dental Grants. We wish to congratulate:

1.  Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, U.S.A. - $5,000
   Through the Tzu Chi Winter Homeless Shelter Dental Project, the mobile dental services will include exams, application of sealants, cleanings, X-rays, topical fluoride application, oral health education, restorative treatment, surgery, dentures, and a strong referral system that ensures follow-up treatment for patients with more complicated or extensive dental needs. These free dental services will be provided through a mobile dental unit twice a week for three-hour timeframes to 270 low-income, urban, homeless youth, adult, and elderly individuals of East San Gabriel Valley who lack access to dental care, in an effort to reduce the oral health disparities that exist amongst the homeless population in the area.
2. Northern Valley Indian Health, Inc. - $5,000
   In partnership with the First Five Commissions, this mobile dental unit project will provide restorative dental care, including oral health education, exams, X-rays, cleanings, application of sealants, topical fluoride application, and restorative treatment for 3,300 low-income children 0 to 5 years of age, and pregnant mothers who lack access to dental care in Butte, Glenn, and Tehama Counties. The mobile services will be provided 5 days per week through a mobile dental unit. The mobile unit is a fully equipped with two operatories; however, currently lacks the capability to provide Nitrous Oxide sedation to the very young patient load. The grant funding allows for the purchase of a Nitrous Oxide Delivery system that is configured for young children expanding the clinics service/treatment abilities.
3. The Santa Barbara-Ventura Counties Dental Care Foundation, Inc. - $10,000
   Through the Maternal & Children Oral Health Program Project, The Santa Barbara-Ventura Counties Dental Care Foundation, Inc., will provide preventive dental care for 300 low-income, pregnant women, young mothers and children 0-40 years old who lack access to dental care through mobile dental service in Ventura County. Dental services will include exams, X-rays, cleanings, application of sealants, topical fluoride application, oral health education, restorative treatment, and surgery. This project will address the epidemic of early childhood caries among the very young children in Ventura County by making a paradigm shift away from the traditional “surgical” model to a much more cost effective “medical” model focusing on education and a variety of minimal interventions designed to prevent the disease before it starts or at least catch it in its earliest stages.
4. University of Southern California - $10,000
   Through the USC Mobile Dental Clinic - New Equipment Upgrade Project, the USC Mobile Dental Clinic will purchase three (3) new autoclaves and four (4) new x-ray processors for the sterilization van that will allow the USC Mobile Dental Clinic to continue providing direct oral health care services to at least 1,300 underserved pediatric patients annually.