Sacramento County names Delta Dental dentists as "outstanding volunteers of the year"

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors this week (Tuesday) proclaimed Delta Dental Plan of California's consulting dentists among the county's "outstanding volunteers of the year" for providing dental screenings to more than 1,400 area school kids.

The unanimously passed resolution commends the Rancho Cordova-based dental staff of California's largest dental plan for "helping to prevent the cycle of tooth decay and pain that is all too prevalent in this population and making a substantial difference in the lives of these children." The consulting dentists named in the resolution provided screenings that led to the placement of more than 6,000 dental sealants -- a material applied to the chewing surfaces of molars to help block harmful bacteria that lead to decay.

Delta Dental, with offices in Rancho Cordova and San Francisco, first linked up with the county's dental sealant program, "Smile Keepers," last August. Smile Keepers provides dental sealants and full dental screenings along with referral to care for local youth. The program draws on volunteer dentists and county-funded hygienists who work from a mobile dental van at area schools.

"We got involved after learning the county couldn't find enough dentists to screen all the kids in need," said Bob Saffren, DDS, one of the dentist consultants cited in the resolution. "We're in the business of dental health, after all, so we proposed to Delta's executive committee that they donate some of our company-paid time to Smile Keepers, which they thought was an excellent suggestion."

Saffren said local volunteer dentists with the Sacramento District Dental Society also partnered with the county to help many thousands of local area school kids get sealants and screenings last year. As part of the screenings, the dentists help detect untreated dental disease and arrange for emergency and restorative services to be provided under various state and county-funded dental programs.

"All the dentists working with Smile Keepers deserve kudos, and we applaud the county board of supervisors for directing its Department of Health and Human Services to make oral health a priority," said Gary D. Radine, Delta Dental's president and CEO. "We are honored to participate with such a creative and effective prevention-based program, and I am especially gratified to learn it was an employee's suggestion that led us to participate in this worthwhile endeavor."

Delta Dental Plan of California covers nearly 17 million enrollees in commercial and government-sponsored dental programs in California and throughout the nation. The company administers the dental portion of Medi-Cal program for the California Department of Health Services, the Healthy Families dental program and several other federal, state and county-based contracts for dental care.