The Foundation for Endodontics' & Specialized Dental Partners' Domestic Access to Care Program encourages endodontists to provide free endodontic treatment to underserved patients across the United States. ILLINOIS Patients are referred to the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Dental Medicine from all over the region and no patient is turned away, regardless of their economic standing. All treatment will be performed on campus, where the endodontic residents practice along with the AEGD Program and the Implant Fellowship Program. The grant will assist with the cost of supplies associated with endodontic surgical procedures which are not covered by Medicaid, allowing the residents to provide, and patients to receive, additional needed treatment. Dr. Leigh Speer, director of post-graduate endodontics at SIU, will lead this new program.
Community service and goodwill are important to endodontists and the Foundation is honored to support those values. A record number of Domestic Access to Care projects were funded in 2023, serving a wide range of patient populations in a variety of settings. Providing care to people who otherwise might have none, these projects will have a profound impact not only on the patients, but also on the endodontists involved. These grants represent a $60,000 investment in Domestic Access to Care initiatives. Congratulations to this year’s awardees! Together, they will serve hundreds of deserving patients in the coming year. Check back often for updates as these projects progress.
NEW YORK The “Lift As We Climb” program will provide endodontic specialty care, from access through restoration, to underserved populations in Brooklyn. This project aims to increase access to specialty care and divert emergent visits to nonurgent or semi-urgent, less expensive, and more effective, oral health care and treatment. Patients who present in the hospital’s emergency room for dental pain will be diverted to the program in hopes of saving natural teeth and increasing oral health literacy. Dr. Marcus Johnson, Chief of Endodontics at One Brooklyn Hospitals, leads this project.
FLORIDA In the face of the humanitarian crisis stemming from the Ukrainian conflict, the Department of Endodontics at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) College of Dental Medicine, along with the Ukrainian Refugee Resettlement Project, will render endodontic care to the Ukrainian refugees resettled in the South Florida community. This grant will enable the refugees to receive necessary endodontic services, thereby alleviating their pain and discomfort, addressing or avoiding infection, and preventing the unnecessary loss of teeth that could otherwise be saved through endodontic treatment. Dr. Yehuda Benjamin, director of post-graduate endodontics at Nova, leads this project. MARYLAND The Trident Save-a-Smile Foundation is a collaborative program that provides free endodontic treatment to needy, pre-screened patients one day a year. Since its establishment in 2018, the team has provided 114 pro bono root canal procedures. All team members, including providers, dental assistants, sterilization technicians, patient coordinators, and administrators, have graciously donated their time and skills one Saturday each year, bolstering communities in Howard and Montgomery counties. Dr. Ronald Taylor, founder of Trident Endo, leads this project. PENNSYLVANIA Patients who are referred to the I.B. Bender Division of Endodontics within the Albert Einstein Medical Center in need of endodontic treatment are treated by endodontic residents under the direct supervision of endodontic faculty. This program will benefit both patients and clinicians in that people who would not ordinarily seek specialty care will be able to access it. Also, residents who might not ordinarily assess and treat severe disease will have the opportunity to learn how to manage such cases. Dr. Frederic Barnett, chairman and program director at Einstein, will lead this project.
FOCUS 2024
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