More than four hundred foster-care students within the Twin Rivers Unified School District will be able to receive free dental care thanks to a new telemedicine project, The Virtual Dental Home, created jointly by the California Dental Association Foundation, University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry and the California HealthCare Foundation with $100,000 in start-up funding from Verizon. Shown left to right at a check presentation on Monday, September 21 is State Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Twin Rivers Superintendent Frank Porter, Verizon West Region President Tim McCallion, CDA Foundation Board Chair Lindsey Robinson, DDS, and Dr. Paul Glassman, professor of dental practice at the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. The groundbreaking project, which has received $100,000 from the Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, is needed to address the ‘access to care’ crisis in California by connecting patients with critical dental services. State Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who was on hand for a demonstration Monday, September 21 at the Twin Rivers School District offices applauded the project, “The collaboration between the Verizon Foundation, Twin Rivers USD, the California Dental Association Foundation, the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry and the California HealthCare Foundation demonstrates that when partnerships are formed we can still do great things in and for our communities even during times of unprecedented budgetary constraints.” The Twin Rivers site is just the beginning. The four-year pilot project will operate at 15 community locations across California in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, the Central Valley and northeastern California hoping to expand and improve access to dental services for people by giving participating dentists the technological capability to examine patients remotely with help from dental hygienists and dental assistants in underserved communities. After the remote examinations, dental hygienists and dental assistants will perform preventive and temporizing restorative treatment for the patient. “This pilot project helps dentists improve the oral health of all Californians,” said Lindsey Robinson, DDS, chair of the CDA Foundation board of directors. “Thanks to the generous grant from Verizon, we will be able to bring dentistry into underserved communities.” |
