Sept. 10, 2014 | A $15,000 grant presented today by the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation to the student-led 12th Street Health and Wellness Center of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will fund equipment for expanding oral health screenings and services available to residents of the Little Rock neighborhood.

Equipment purchased with the grant funding includes equipment and materials to allow dental hygiene and dental students to provide oral screenings and basic dental care under supervision of licensed dentists. In addition to cleanings, the services can now include simple fillings and extractions.

The interprofessional 12th Street Center opened in 2013. There, students from all of the UAMS colleges provide health and wellness services, including disease and medication management, dental screenings, health screenings, education and immunizations for the community.

“The Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation has been a strong supporter of our growing oral health programs at UAMS that serve our mission of health and health improvement in Arkansas,” said Jeanne Heard, M.D., Ph.D., UAMS provost and chief academic officer. “We value the service-learning element that is at the heart of our 12th Street Center and this grant will allow our students to provide more health and wellness services for the community as they learn to become health care professionals.”

Students on hand for the announcement included students in the dental hygiene program of the UAMS College of Health Professions and senior dental students from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry. Groups of UTHSC dental students started making two-week clinical rotations to UAMS in early 2014, hosted by the UAMS Center for Dental Education, getting clinical experience in dental clinics at UAMS, the 12th Street Center and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

“We are very proud to partner with the UAMS 12th Street Health and Wellness Center,” said Ed Choate, president and CEO of Delta Dental of Arkansas. “This clinic provides a unique setting to improve oral health by offering quality care for Arkansans in need and learning opportunities for dental and hygiene students. It’s a great combination.”

The equipment purchased with the grant money includes a battery-operated, handheld intraoral X-ray unit that produces high-quality radiographic images, an autoclave for sterilization of instruments and handpieces, and a variety of dental and dental hygiene instruments.

“This grant gives us a tremendous boost to the services we can provide in the community and we are grateful to the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation,” said Lanita White, Pharm.D., director of the 12th Street Center. “As we expand our oral health offerings we also strengthen the interdisciplinary, service-learning opportunities for our students who will practice their skills while helping the community.”

In July, UAMS celebrated a pledge of $2 million from the Delta Dental Foundation by announcing a new name for its oral health clinic — the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation Oral Health Clinic. That clinic, also a part of the Center for Dental Education in the College of Health Professions, will host a postgraduate dental residency program under development.

Delta Dental of Arkansas has been writing group dental insurance since 1982 and currently serves more than 1,000 participating Arkansas dentists, 2,900 employer groups and nearly 1.9 million individuals. Delta Dental is the largest dental benefits provider in the state of Arkansas and is a member of Delta Dental Plans Association, a national network of independent not-for-profit dental service corporations specializing in providing dental benefits programs to 60 million Americans in more than 111,000 employee groups throughout the country.

In addition to providing excellent dental coverage, Delta Dental of Arkansas contributes more than $1 million each year to support programs designed to improve the oral health of Arkansans. For more information visit www.deltadentalar.com.