Bayou Dental Health receives $193,000 grant from Delta Dental Community Care Foundation

The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation recently awarded Bayou Dental Health a $193,000 grant to purchase a multi-operatory mobile dental unit to provide much needed care to underserved residents in the Greater New Orleans region.

Bayou Dental Health is a non-profit dental health organization serving low-income children and adults in New Orleans. The new mobile dental unit will support Bayou Dental Health's current school-based and community dental care programs, which reach thousands of children and adults by bringing oral health care services directly into schools, community centers, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.

In 2017, the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation awarded more than $9.6 million in grants to various types of dental clinics serving children and adults, dental student scholarships, disaster relief, and oral health education and scientific research programs across the foundation's 15-state service area plus Washington, DC. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded more than $1.4 million in grants to dental clinics in the state of Louisiana.

"We're thrilled to partner with Bayou Dental Health to make good oral health a reality for many who have gone without it because of financial or mobility barriers," said Karen L. Robinson, vice president of Corporate Affairs for Delta Dental Insurance Company and acting executive director of the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation. "Getting to the dentist is challenging for those living in underserved areas, and we need to fix that."

"Our goal is to provide dental care to at least 4,600 children and adults in the first year of operating our mobile dental clinic in the greater New Orleans region," said Mosanda Mvula, MD, MPH, Chair of the Board of Directors of Bayou Dental Health. "We're so grateful to Delta Dental for its help in increasing access to care for underserved New Orleans residents."