Caring for your teeth is one of the most important health measures that you can take. Not only are your teeth necessary for proper speaking and chewing, but they also lend to your overall appearance. Keeping your teeth healthy and looking good can sometimes be expensive, though, especially if you require any specialized dental services like orthodontics or surgical procedures. Fortunately, there are plenty of dental charities that have been developed to assist people with covering the costs of their dental care.
The National Children’s Oral Health Foundation
As its name implies, this dental charity is focused on helping children throughout the United States receive the oral care that they need to develop and maintain good dental health. It’s mostly targeted towards low-income families that don’t have the economic means to pay the full cost of dental care for their children on their own. In fact, the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation is the only dental organization in the United States that is independently owned and is also a non-profit organization. This organization offers children a 10-year dental plan that helps them receive a full and comprehensive oral care plan. The plan includes everything from dental screenings to good dental hygiene education.
Dentaid
Dentaid is a global dental charity that serves children and adults in more than 70 countries worldwide. The main purpose of Dentaid is to provide dental care in countries where there simply aren’t enough dentists to provide the amount of dental care that citizens of the area need. Dentaid is primarily concerned with helping people who experience dental pain get relief from their pain through dental surgeries and other appropriate dental procedures. Dentaid has become most well-known for what it calls the “DentaidBox.” The DentaidBox is a portable surgery kit that comes complete with a dental chair and all the surgical tools that a licensed dentist could need to perform a variety of dental surgeries. By sending DentaidBoxes to needy areas across the globe, Dentaid helps people in third-world and other economically unstable countries receive the dental surgeries that they need to be dentally pain-free.
American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Charitable Foundation
The AACDCF is quickly becoming one of the most popular dental charities in the nation. With such a huge emphasis being placed on appearances and having a beautiful smile, more and more people dream of achieving straight, white teeth that they can be proud to smile with. However, not everyone can afford to undergo cosmetic dental procedures. The AACDCF is unique in that it offers financial assistance to survivors of domestic abuse who need cosmetic dental treatment. In fact, the AACDCF provides much-needed cosmetic dental work to survivors of domestic abuse at no cost to them at all. In addition to helping victims of domestic violence receive the dental care that they need, they also help survivors of natural disasters in receiving dental care as well.
Healthy Smiles Healthy Children
Healthy Smiles Healthy Children is another dental organization that is focused on ensuring that children get the dental care and education that they needed. It was founded back in 1987 by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and its goal is not only to promote the education of proper dental hygiene to children, but it’s also to help develop policies, research and services that are tailored to all children, even those who have special dental needs. Since its inception, Healthy Smiles Healthy Children has awarded more than $4 million in grants to low-income and needy children and families in more than 29 states across the U.S.
Oral Health America
Oral Health America is a bit different from the other dental charities listed because this particular dental organization is dedicated to advocating for oral health rather than by assisting low-income families with receiving dental care. This dental group focuses and educating and empowering the public about oral diseases so that they can better prevent it, and they are the ones who are responsible for popular awareness programs like the National Smile Month initiative, the Special Olympics Special Smiles, program and the National Spit Tobacco Education Program.
24 Hourly Dentists Spreading Smiles Scholarship
24 Hourly Dentist feels that higher education is the stepping stone to future success. With education costs going higher each year, we feel it is important to reward and provide relief to students in this economy no matter their social or socioeconomic backgrounds. That is why 24 Hourly Dentist created the Spreading Smiles Scholarship. The Spreading Smiles Scholarship awards four scholarships each year. Applicants will be reviewed by our internal judging committee. Each winner will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Learn more and apply online.
References:
Consumer Guide to Dentistry. “Non-profit and charitable dental organizations.” Retrieved on June 8, 2016, from http://www.yourdentistryguide.com/non-profit-charities/.
Dentaid. “Improving the world’s oral health one smile at a time.” Retrieved on June 8, 2016, from http://dentaid.org/.
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