It’s the same program as before, just better. A new feature, Direct Connect, enables individuals to connect to someone who is looking to donate dental equipment or vice versa.
And with Partner Connect, we can help match community health organizations/clinics with needed equipment from one of our dental manufacturing partners, who include A-Dec, Henry Schein, Inc., Tuttnauer and Air Techniques, to name a few. 

​Look for updates beginning in 2020! 

November 6, 2019 - In celebration of Veteran’s Day, Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM) teamed up with the Ninth District Dental Association for its 2nd Annual Smiles for Veterans event, a day of free oral health care for veterans, military personnel and their family members.
More than 60 participants turned out for the festivities, which kicked off with a heartfelt performance of the national anthem by TCDM’s acapella group, the Chromatic Scalers. Veterans and their families enjoyed a breakfast reception with entertainment, giveaways and student-led educational activities aimed at encouraging good oral health practices. Practitioners from New York Medical College’s new Family Health Center, located on premises, joined to offer blood pressure screenings, height, weight and body mass index readings.
Senator Pete Harckham visited Touro Dental Health to show his support for the cause, along with leadership from the New York State Dental Foundation (NYSDF) who provided support for the event.

Click here to read more about this event. 

HELPING VETERANS RECEIVE THE ORAL HEALTHCARE THEY DESERVE!
The New York State Dental Foundation (NYSDF) invited NYU Dentistry to join its Veterans Access to Care Initiative and supplement nationwide efforts on Veterans Smile Day (the Friday closest to Veterans Day) by providing a day of free dental care to veterans in need. Recognizing, however, that such an initiative would not close the critical gap in access to sustainable oral health services for this vulnerable population, a small group of committed individuals from NYSDF and NYU Dentistry collaborated with colleagues inside the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System to design a program that would extend beyond the one-day service approach. This collaboration led to NYU Dentistry launching the Veterans Oral Health Initiative (VOHI) in March 2019, a program that includes comprehensive care at no out-of-pocket cost to the veteran, with the ultimate goal of connecting the veteran with a dental home in his/her community for access to ongoing, affordable care. Treatment for veterans living in and around New York City is provided at the College on Saturdays by a group of dedicated dental student and faculty volunteers. The NYSDF has provided a grant of $15,000 per year for two years to help fund the program.
Reprinted with permission from NYU College of Dentistry

To find out more about this great program, please visit: https://dental.nyu.edu/globalreach/veterans-oral-health-initiative.html

 
Call For Nominations – NYS Dental Foundation Board of Trustees
 
The Nominating Committee of the New York State Dental Foundation (NYSDF) will meet in September to select candidates to serve on the NYSDF Board of Trustees. The Nominating Committee will submit its recommended slate of Trustee candidates and Board officers for consideration at the Foundation’s annual meeting on 8 November 2019.
 
Terms of office for Foundation trustees are three years.
 
Additionally, the New York State Dental Association shall nominate two NYSDA members to serve one year (January – December 2020) terms of office as members of the NYSDF Board of Trustees. Such nominations will be forwarded to the NYSDF Board for review and ratification at the annual meeting.
 
Current NYSDF Trustees are invited to submit nominations from amongst themselves for the officer positions of Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer.
 
NYSDF Board members should have:
 

• A strong belief in board service as a critical element of successful nonprofit leadership;
• Experience working with affiliated organizations and providing capacity building and leadership development;
• A strong network of decision-makers and influencers at corporations and other nonprofits and the willingness to tape those connections to help the Foundation connect with potential partners.

 
NYSDF Board members are responsible for:

• Taking an active part in reviewing, approving and monitoring the NYSDF budget and fundraising to meet it;
• Knowing and overseeing the implementation of NYSDF policies and programs;
• Accepting the NYSDF Bylaws and being morally responsible for the health and well-being of this organization;
• Making a financial donation to the NYSDF;
• Actively engaging in fundraising for this organization, which may include: individual solicitations, undertaking special events, writing mail appeals, and the like;
• Actively promoting the New York State Dental Foundation and encouraging and supporting its staff;
• Attending Board meetings, being available for phone consultation, and serving on at least one New York State Dental Foundation committee;
• Completing and returning to the office the Foundation’s Conflict of Interest Statement, in accordance with IRS requirements, and

Offering resignation from Board if unable to fulfill these obligations.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Veterans Oral Health Initiative (VOHI)
 
Dental care is not a guaranteed benefit for veterans of the United States military. Only veterans with a service-connected dental disability (i.e. combat injury to the head/neck) or those who are considered 100% disabled as a result of service are eligible for full dental care with the Veterans’ Administration (VA).  This leaves nearly 85% of the veterans ineligible for dental care through the VA, and their access to oral health services are subject to their ability to pay out-of-pocket or purchase private or employer-sponsored dental insurance.
 
Many groups with an interest in veterans’ health have attempted to address the lack of access to dental care by conducting short-term projects; these are usually one-day, annual events offering free consultation, cleanings, or addressing urgent needs only. In order to achieve sustained improvements in veterans’ oral health outcomes or access to care, a different approach must be taken.
 
Beginning March 2, 2019

•  NYU Dentistry will provide an initial cohort of 20 veterans with comprehensive dental care at no out-of-pocket cost
• Under faculty supervision, students will provide requisite care on select Saturdays, twice per month
• When a treatment plan is completed and a patient is put into recall/preventive maintenance status, a new patient will be invited
• The VA NY Harbor Health Care System has helped to inform veterans who are NOT eligible for services at the VA of this opportunity to have their dental needs met at NYU
• The first patient group includes veterans who served in World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Persian Gulf War, and OIF/OEF.
  • Age Range: 31-93 years old (with an average age of 62.5)
  • Patients in active care: 22
  • Patients on waitlist: 77

 
Sustainability
NYU Dentistry has partnered with the New York State Dental Foundation to fund the initial costs of delivering care to this vulnerable population. In addition, a handful of concerned alumni have donated additional funding to help cover the treatment plans created for the initial cohort of patients; however, in order to reach a larger number and continue the program in perpetuity, development efforts will continue to focus on covering the high laboratory and specialty costs.  
 
The best bet for sustaining improved access to care is to place each veteran into a permanent dental home in his/her community.  In order to do so, dentists in and around New York City are asked to participate by welcoming a veteran into his/her dental practice and offering routine maintenance and ongoing dental care regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. 

For more information on this event or become a sponsor, please click here.

​The Cleft-Craniofacial Center at Albany Medical Center has a new dental chair to assist its mission to serve children born with facial deformities from across a 25-county region. This exciting addition came about as part of the New York State Dental Foundation’s Equipment Donation Program, through which the Foundation leverages its partnerships with corporate entities such as Henry Schein, Inc., Air Techniques, Midmark and Belmont, and, occasionally, private donors, to provide equipment to help community programs increase their capacity to provide dental treatment to vulnerable populations.  
 
“Everybody involved is incredibly indebted to the dedication of the members of our Charitable Awards Committee, which is chaired by Dr. P. Deborah Weisfuse,” states NYSDF Executive Director Laura Stedman. “Dr. Weisfuse personally oversaw the donation, which was from a private dental office in Manhattan, and Committee member Michele Penrose was instrumental in identifying a moving company that could handle the delivery from New York City to Albany.”
 
Also contributing to the donation process were Committee members Drs. Joseph Brofsky and Carl Tegtmeier.
 
The Cleft-Cranio Center is run by pediatric plastic surgeon Dr. Oluwaseun Adetayo. She is assistant professor of surgery at Albany Medical College and also the Section Chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery. She is the region’s only physician fellowship trained in craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgery (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s School of Medicine). “My goal is to diminish any functional and aesthetic differences, great or small, during those formative years and into adulthood,” explains Dr. Adetayo.
 
Foundation Chair Dr. G. Kirk Gleason adds “Too often, seeking treatment for things like cleft lips, cleft palates, craniosynostoses and other dento/craniofacial anomalies, involves families having to schedule multiple appointments in several different locations. The AMC Cleft-Craniofacial Center allows patients to see specialists in plastic surgery, orthodontics, dentistry, speech language pathology, genetics and other disciplines in one setting, on one day. Our ability to facilitate a new chair will really help the Center to treat more patients.”
 
The Foundation extends sincere appreciation and gratitude to the staff of the Albany Medical College Foundation, notably Donna Beebe, Vice President, Development and James R. Kellerhouse, Assistant Vice President, Development, for their assistance in the sometimes complex process of getting the chair from Manhattan to upstate New York. “Most of all,” concludes Dr. Gleason, “we wish to thank Dr. John Stanescu of Midtown Dental Center; without his incredible generosity in gifting the chair, this story would have ended much differently.”