The University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) was recently awarded a $250,00 multi-year access to care grant from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) Foundation for its Oral Healthcare for Uninsured Underserved Children (OH-UUC) program.
This past November, Erica Caffrey, DDS, Clinical Director and Assistant Director for the Advanced Specialty Education Program, and Glenn Canares, DDS, MSD, Graduate Program Director for Pediatric Dentistry, presented a proposal to the AAPD Foundation Board of Trustees and was awarded a three-year, $250,000 grant.
The AAPD Foundation has been supporting the OH-UUC program for many years with $20,000 single-year grants. However, programs that perform at high levels for several years are encouraged by the foundation to submit proposals for larger multi-year grants. This past November, Erica Caffrey, DDS, Clinical Director and Assistant Director for the Advanced Specialty Education Program, and Glenn Canares, DDS, MSD, Graduate Program Director for Pediatric Dentistry, presented a proposal to the AAPD Foundation Board of Trustees and was awarded a three-year, $250,000 grant.
“The program has really grown, which speaks to both the need and volume,” explained Vineet Dhar, BDS, MDS, PhD, Chair of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, who served as a principal investigator (PI) for the grant. “The benefits of the program are also really in the win-win nature of it – it is improving access for children who don’t have any other options for dental work because of reasons beyond their control, it is increasing the patient experiences for our dental students and residents, and they are learning to give back to the community because they are working with an underserved population, which in turn is helping them to see the meaningful impact they can make in the community.”
The services offered by the OH-UUC program include oral health education, prevention, caries management, restorative care, oral sedation, orthodontics, oral surgery, endodontics, and general anesthesia. The facilities are located within the School of Dentistry in Baltimore, which allows for improved care coordination when necessary.
“The majority of children who benefit from this program are new to the country and experience many barriers to optimal oral health, including language barriers, inability to access basic medical care, food insecurity, transportation challenges, unaffordability of dental services, low oral health literacy, and ineligibility for public insurance coverage such as Medicaid due to their immigration status,” added Dr. Caffrey, who served alongside Dr. Dhar as co-PI on the grant.
Services provided through this grant will begin in January 2024. The team has a goal to become a comprehensive dental home for uninsured and underserved children in Baltimore and throughout Maryland.
“This program has had enormous success and continues to garner recognition statewide,” said Dr. Caffrey. “We hope the outcomes of our program will demonstrate that grant-funded programs for uninsured children are sustainable, wide-reaching, and offer a multitude of opportunities for dentist trainees to learn how to care for vulnerable populations.”
“Support from the AAPD Foundation has been essential to our efforts to provide comprehensive dental care for vulnerable families, and we are so grateful for the combined efforts of our dental team, community partners, patient families, and donors as we continue to advocate for optimal oral health for all children,” she added.
Every individual, especially children, deserve a dental home. This program emphasizes UMSODs commitment to Advancing Oral Health and Improving Lives.
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To learn more about the OH-UUC program, visit https://www.dental.umaryland.edu/patients/pediatric-dentistry.