A $5 million grant from the nation’s largest dental insurance provider will help expand oral health care services for vulnerable seniors across San Diego County.
Announced at Vista Community Clinic in North County Monday morning, the donation is part of a larger effort by the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation to expand an existing oral health partnership program with community clinics in Southern California.
The initiative is part of a larger nationwide effort that has seen Delta’s philanthropic arm allocate more than $15 million to work with organizations that serve seniors without dental insurance, which the company offers to more than 80 million Americans.
Kenzie Ferguson, the foundation’s vice president, said that similar programs have already been built in Washington, D.C., and Santa Cruz, and San Diego County was chosen as the next region to participate because of its existing network of federally qualified health centers.
“We chose San Diego because you all collectively work together, and we can learn so much from you and build a model that we can replicate,” Ferguson said.
Oral health for seniors has received greater attention in recent years as researchers have documented increases in tooth decay and other oral conditions as Americans age.
A survey commissioned by Delta found that 80 percent of older Americans do not go to the dentist as frequently as is recommended and “access is one of the main barriers,” the company said, adding that “one in three older adults surveyed … later said they cannot afford to see a dentist regularly.”
Health Quality Partners of Southern California will administer the grant on behalf of the broad range of community clinics that it represents.
Nicole Howard, the organization’s executive vice president, said that the idea is to embed dental services more directly in the daily flow of primary medical care that health centers offer.
“When individuals go into primary care, we want them to have a warm handoff for oral health care, because we know that a lot of seniors either don’t realize that their Medi-Cal coverage covers them for dental or they don’t realize that the health centers offer a sliding fee scale to make it more affordable for those who are uninsured,” Ferguson said.
The exact design of the program, she added, is still under development though there is some thought that additional workers might be needed to help connect seniors with dental appointments. Likewise, part of the process may involve additional training for family medicine practitioners so they are more comfortable assessing oral health conditions.
