Latest Resources

Dental Therapy Toolkit

W.K. Kellogg Foundation has released a new toolkit for advocates and partners that spotlights the work of dental therapists and emphasizes how they promote economic development through job creation and business growth, expand the dental care team, and increase access to care for communities across the United States. The toolkit contains helpful fact sheets; an updated timeline; useful one-pagers on why dental therapy matters; messages that frame how dental therapists are cost-effective providers that are making a lasting difference in communities; and a suite of spotlights that feature several practicing, community dental therapists and elevate how they are reaching underserved communities, providing cost-effective care and increasing access through innovation.

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Issue Focus by Rana Suliman

Funder Strategies to Support Oral Health Care Access and Equity

Stark inequities in oral health care access and outcomes reflect the United States’ deepest societal divides and overarching social justice concerns. Health philanthropy is among the sectors aspiring to accelerate change and drive upstream solutions in a period of increasing vulnerability for communities heavily impacted by the downstream effects of oral health disparities.

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Trends in Health Philanthropy: Oral Health Care Access and Equity

We should not have to make the case for oral health programming, but the reality is that the health effects of oral health disparities are not widely recognized—despite the fact that these disparities continue to be persistent and pervasive.

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A Grantmaker Affinity Group Informs the Field, Inspires Innovation, and Ignites Action

Early and often, health funders are asked to fund oral health. It has become clear, however, that equally, if not more essential, are investments to eliminate the systemic inequities that concentrate disease in specific populations.

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What’s Coming Up in 2019 for GIH and Health Philanthropy?

In 2019, there are several trends we will be following. These trends show that, in general, funders are grappling with the changing environments of service delivery, health in communities, and organizational effectiveness.

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Dentistry’s Newest Profession: Expanding Access, Creating Equity, Improving Health

Dental therapists are oral health care’s newest professionals. In the same way that physician assistants work with medical teams, dental therapists are supervised by dentists and expand the reach of the dental team, which allows people to get dental care in communities that have long gone without it.

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Upstream, Systems-Based Solutions to the Oral Health Epidemic

At the turn of this century, then Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher put out the first Surgeons’ General Report on oral health and declared that poor oral health was a “silent” epidemic that impacted much of the United States. That declaration was a pivotal moment that increased salience and spurred action around the issue.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Increasing Access to Oral Health Care in Missouri: One Funder’s Approach

The Missouri Foundation for Health began to address better access to oral health care for their region in 2013 by expanding the capacity and infrastructure of the state’s oral health system. The success of their initiative is a result of the development of partnerships and eliciting community input, and is an ideal model for foundations in other areas.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

The Role of Evaluation in Designing CHOMPERS! and Bringing Dental Care to Kids

In response to the clear and urgent need to improve the dental health of young children living in poverty in western and central New York, the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York launched CHOMPERS! Because the foundation was taking a brand new approach in implementing the Cavity Free Kids curriculum as part of the initiative, a strong evaluation was critical.

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Connect With Funder Peers on Oral Health

Interested in exchanging strategies, information, and questions with your funder peers? Sign up for GIH E-Forums.