Several philanthropies are pouring millions of dollars into dental care for working class and low-income Minnesota families, seeking to give poor kids the kind of healthy smile that will boost self-esteem and ease entry into the workforce.
The Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation has given $25 million to expand dental offices for low-income clients, fund education and tooth sealant programs and provide dental treatment for the needy.
The Otto Bremer Trust has awarded nearly $6 million in grants since 2013 for public education campaigns, dental equipment, office expansions and mobile clinics. Four of the state's Initiative Foundations have launched or expanded Early Childhood Dental Networks in nearly 50 Minnesota counties.
"If you don't have a healthy mouth, you don't have a healthy body," said Diane Benjamin, an Otto Bremer senior program director. "It impacts heart disease, low birth weight. It can cause life-threatening infection. It causes children to miss days of school and impacts learning.
"If you open your mouth and you are missing teeth, it's hard to get hired."
One of the biggest hurdles facing low-income residents seeking dental care is access, said Joseph Lally, executive director of the Delta Foundation.
State lags in payments
Minnesota's reimbursement rates for dental care for welfare clients are some of the lowest in the nation, prompting many dentists to limit the number of low-income patients they take. Only 37 percent of children on medical assistance in Minnesota received preventive dental care in 2015, well below the national figure of 46 percent.
The Delta Foundation has donated $4.6 million for a larger, state-of-the art dental clinic now under construction at Hennepin County Medical Center that will accommodate 27,500 visits a year, including patients on public assistance.