Donated Dental Services

June 5, 2009

It is my pleasure to announce a new program in North Carolina that will benefit elderly and disabled North Carolinians who are without financial resources and in need of comprehensive dental care. 

Donated Dental Services (DDS) is a unique program that provides 100% donated care to patients who qualify through the use of volunteer general dentists, specialists and dental laboratories. The North Carolina Dental Society endorses the DDS program wholeheartedly and we are delighted to report that our efforts to help them secure funding in our state have been successful. DDS services will soon be available to many vulnerable North Carolinians. 

 Here are some basics about the program that will be helpful to you:

• DDS is designed to serve people who fall through the cracks: elderly, disabled and medically compromised people who do not have the resources to access care on their own
• DDS provides comprehensive care, restoring individuals with serious dental needs to good oral health; the program is not designed for routine exams and cleanings
• Once an applicant completes the attached form, a DDS Coordinator will review the application and conduct an intake interview with the patient
• If the patient qualifies for the program, the Coordinator will contact him or her when a volunteer dentist is available in their area to help
• Patients are seen in the dentists’ own offices, where they are treated with the same dignity and respect as the office’s paying patients

I hope that you will share this information with individual constituents, your local area agencies on aging, and other community service organizations that serve people with disabilities. The North Carolina Dental Society will continue to work closely with the National Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped (NFDH), the organization that operates DDS, to recruit dentist volunteers for the program so that we can help as many people as possible.

Should you have any questions regarding the program, please feel free to contact me or call Ms. Jennifer Caplain, North Carolina Donated Dental Services Coordinator at (877) 650-9001 or (919) 677-9001 or visit the National Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped website.

Sincerely,

M. Alec Parker, DMD
Executive Director