(December 15, 2003) LANSING--Dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants in Greater Lansing will soon join forces with the Lansing Community College (LCC) Dental Hygiene Program, local Family Independence Agency offices and agencies working with the uninsured, to deliver volunteer-sponsored dental care to Lansing’s needy.

The Capital Area Health Alliance’s (CAHA) Oral Health Task Force has been awarded one of six national grants from "Community Collaborations to Increase Oral Health Care Access", a partnership between Volunteers in Health Care and the American Dental Association. Dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants volunteering their time, will use the $50,000 award to organize specific events that will bring targeted needy clients to the LCC Dental Hygiene Clinic to receive provided services.

In this unique project, local agencies representing groups of children or adults with dental health needs, will work with LCC and the Central District Dental Society, to design events that target precisely the dental services their clients lack. Dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants will be recruited through their professional organizations, to donate their services at the events, held in LCC’s 18-chair dental care training clinic.

"This is an important landmark for the Oral Health Task Force," says Lansing City Council President, Carol Wood, the Task Force Chair. "It brings together clients with oral health needs, dentists willing to volunteer, and a large clinic site to handle all-day events. We are matching unmet need with unused capacity, and everyone wins."

"Local dentists give away large amounts of unbilled services to clients in their offices. But the need for care continues to grow, especially since Medicaid has just stopped covering dental services for adults," says Dr. Bradford Eshler, DDS, president of the Central District Dental Society. "This project will give community-minded dentists a simple and effective means to serve the uninsured in a new way."

"Lansing Community College is delighted to participate in this effort, and to use our state-of-the-art dental hygiene lab to serve the community," said Roberta Peterson, Dean of LCC’s Human, Health & Public Services and member of the CAHA Board of Directors. "Our mission includes providing for the community’s unmet health needs, and this project is a perfect opportunity to partner with local agencies and practitioners to serve our community."

The project will offer at least five daylong events, that will be scheduled for 2004, and pave the way for additional volunteer-sponsored oral health clinics in the future.

The Capital Area Health Alliance is a coalition of health care providers, consumers, insurers, business, labor and concerned citizens organized to foster optimal health for the Greater Lansing area through a high-quality, accessible and efficient health care delivery system in the tri-county area.

The CAHA’s Oral Health Task Force is a committee, whose members include private and public oral health care providers, agencies serving the low-income and uninsured, health systems, government, and professional organizations.