California's largest dental plan announced today its pledge of $25,000 to the California Donated Dental Services program to assist approximately 150 disabled Californians in urgent need of dental care.
Delta Dental Plan of California's chief dental executive, Marilynn Belek, DMD, said Delta's Health, Education and Research Fund is enthusiastically supporting the program, which coordinates care to the disabled with help from local volunteer dentists and dental laboratories who provide their services free of charge.
California Donated Dental Services is a statewide program that operates under the auspices of the National Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped (NFDH), in conjunction with the California Dental Association. The program also operates with support and sponsorship from several local dental societies such as the Los Angeles Dental Society, the Western Los Angeles Dental Society, the Harbor Dental Society and the San Francisco Dental Society.
Last year, California Donated Dental Services provided nearly $400,000 in donated services to disabled Californians, through the services of about 600 dentists and 196 laboratories.
"Delta's contribution should help this worthwhile organization significantly increase the number of disabled Californians it serves this year," said Dr. Belek. "We are especially pleased to support an organization that nurtures and facilitates the spirit of volunteerism within the dental profession. Many of the volunteers are dentists with whom we also partner under our commercial and government-sponsored dental benefit programs."
San Francisco-based Delta Dental Plan of California belongs to a nonprofit holding company system that covers 18.7 million enrollees in 16 states plus the District of Columbia. It is also a member of the nationwide Delta Dental Plans Association, whose members together cover 42 million Americans and represent the nation's largest dental benefit system.
The Denver-based National Foundation of the Dentistry for the Handicapped is a charitable affiliate of the American Dental Association and was founded in 1986. Since that time, the organization has helped funnel nearly $35 million in donated dental services to approximately 30,000 disabled and elderly people in 26 states.
For more information on NFDH, call (303) 534-5360, or go to the NFDH web site at www.nfdh.org.
