St. Mary’s Health Foundation receives $100,000 from Delta Dental Foundation

Funding brings new mobile dental clinic to southern Indiana

The St. Mary’s Health Foundation recently received $100,000 from the Delta Dental Foundation to purchase a new mobile dental  clinic that will help increase access to care for underserved children in southern Indiana.

The new dentist office on wheels—expected to hit the road this fall—will provide children ages 1-18 with much needed oral health education and preventive and restorative dental care services including routine exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, x-rays and extractions. The clinic will contain three dental operatory chairs and a panoramic x-ray machine allowing more children to receive dental services each day.

“We are extremely proud to provide funding to St. Mary’s Health Foundation for this project,” said Teri Battaglieri, director, Delta Dental Foundation. “With this new mobile dental clinic, we can help ensure more underserved children in southern Indiana receive the quality care they so desperately need to grow up healthy and avoid serious, painful and expensive health problems down the road.”

The mobile clinic will travel to six Indiana counties including Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Posey, Gibson and Knox. The new clinic will provide dental services to up to 30 children per day and receive 6,000 patient visits per year.

“We are grateful to the Delta Dental Foundation for its $100,000 grant for our new mobile dental clinic,” said Eric Girten, St. Mary’s Health Mobile Dental Clinic Director. “The new clinic will allow us to expand our services and provide greater access to dental care and oral health education for children in southern Indiana. This dental clinic will be a high quality dental care home for thousands of children. We are excited to partner with the Delta Dental Foundation to help ensure that children in our community, regardless of their situation, receive the dental care they need.”

About Delta Dental Foundation

The Delta Dental Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization established in 1980, which serves as the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina. The Foundation’s goals are to support education and research for the advancement of dental science, and to promote the oral health of the public through education and service activities, particularly for those with special needs. For more information, visit www.deltadentalin.com.