Grants Awarded to Advance Equity In Oral Health

The CareQuest Institute for Oral Health has funded $2.7 million in grants to foster more equity in the provision of dental care. A national nonprofit focused on creating a more accessible, equitable, and integrated oral health system, CareQuest selected nine organizations to receive the funding.
- Achieva/The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh received $148,000 to further efforts to designate people with disabilities as a “medically underserved population” on a state-wide and national scale.
- Alabama Arise was gifted $148,500 to help the Cover Alabama Coalition, a nonpartisan alliance of more than 100 entities advocating for the state of Alabama to provide quality, affordable health coverage to its residents.
- Community Catalyst was given $485,000 to advance comprehensive health coverage, inclusive of oral health. It also supports technical assistance and training on equity-driven community engagement strategies for oral health systems change.
- Dental Connections Inc received $50,000 in support of the Iowa Smiles pilot project, which focuses on care coordination and public health partnerships to improve oral health for the state’s refugee populations.
- Health Care for All was awarded $215,000 to expand access to care in Massachusetts.
- Hispanic Dental Association was given $264,500 to encourage critical research on topics related to oral health outcomes and access for Hispanic and Latinx populations.
- Maryland Dental Action Coalition garnered $150,802 to help implement Maryland’s newly expanded Medicaid dental coverage.
- Maine Equal Justice Partners received $105,358 to solicit consumer input and feedback regarding Maine’s Medicaid adult dental benefits.
- Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers was offered $150,000 to design, implement, and spread the use of new communication tools to address the effects of structural racism in health care.
From Decisions in Dentistry. June 2023;9(6):10.