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Donated Dental Services celebrates 12 years with $6 million in charitable care

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Posted: October 7, 2010
Donated Dental Services celebrates 12 years with $6 million in charitable care


WEST ALLIS, WIS., Oct. 7, 2010 Over the past 12 years, 2,260 disabled, senior, poor and uninsured adults in this state have received more than $6.1 million in free, comprehensive oral health care through the Wisconsin Dental Association Foundations Donated Dental Services program.

This charitable care milestone was achieved through the efforts of 668 volunteer WDA member dentists who donated their time, financial resources and professional expertise. In addition, 147 dental laboratories have given more than $452,000 in supplies and services.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, the DDS program delivered an estimated $801,000 in care. These patients generally require extensive dental work that can include bridges, crowns or dentures for a per-person cost of about $3,200.

The state of Wisconsin, Delta Dental of Wisconsin and WDA Insurance and Services Corp. provide monetary support for administrative and lab costs. Participating dentists donate more than $8 in clinical expertise, treatment and materials for every $1 in funding from the three entities or more than $13 in care for every $1 the state pays into the program.

DDS patients do not qualify for government assistance programs and cannot afford dental care, because a permanent disability, chronic illness or advanced age restricts their income-earning capability. Patients are selected on the basis of financial need and a personal phone interview with a referral coordinator. A patient candidate then visits a volunteer dentist who assesses dental need and decides whether to accept the financial and clinical responsibilities of providing comprehensive dental care for the individual.

One recent dentist-patient match involved WDA member Dr. Michael Schneidler and a woman named Lolita who had been without teeth for 20 years. The St. Vincent de Paul Society referred her to the program.

After several appointments and seven hours, Schneidler and his dental team provided Lolita with two full dentures.

What we like about the DDS program, explains Schneidler, is we get to meet patients like Lolita who are so thankful for our services and whose lives we hopefully change. What a smile!

People with physical or developmental disabilities often cannot care for their oral health and have difficulties getting treatment. Their problems are exacerbated by limited financial means, but they do not qualify for medical assistance. The WDA Foundations DDS program helps restore patients oral health and improve their oral hygiene and self-esteem.

For more information on this charitable care program, residents of Calumet, Dodge, Door, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Jefferson, Kenosha, Kewaunee, La Fayette, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha and Winnebago counties should contact DDS Director Carol Shoemaker at 888-338-6852. Residents of all other Wisconsin counties should call DDS Coordinator Bonnie Townsend at 866-812-9840.

Wisconsin dentists also serve their communities and make a difference for underserved children and adults through charity care in their private practices and by volunteering for low-income charitable dental clinics, the WDA Mission of Mercy, Give Kids A Smile and other outreach programs.

Many WDA member dentists also continue to participate in the states grossly underfunded dental Medicaid program and, according to the most-recent report from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, routinely donate more care than the state and federal governments combined pay for.

Giving patients with limited financial resources greater access to comprehensive and ongoing care in a dental home setting through increased funding of the states medical assistance programs is one of six WDA Healthy Choices legislative proposals for improving Wisconsin residents oral health while helping save future treatment costs.

The WDA Foundation was created as the charitable arm of the Wisconsin Dental Association in 1957. A qualified, tax-exempt corporation, the foundation provides scholarships to dental and dental hygiene students attending accredited schools in Wisconsin. It also gives financial support to projects providing dental care to the underserved and other dental-related philanthropic endeavors. The foundation also administers the Donated Dental Services program. The WDA Foundation is proud to be a member of Community Health Charities of Wisconsin.

The WDA was established in 1870. With more than 2,900 members statewide, the WDA represents 83 percent of all licensed, practicing dentists in Wisconsin. WDA members are committed to promoting professional excellence and quality oral health care. The WDA is headquartered in West Allis and has a legislative office in Madison. It is one of 53 constituent (state-territorial) dental societies of the American Dental Association - the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. For more information on the WDA, call 414-276-4520, visit our WDA.org website and find us on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

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