title: Foundations' role in improving oral health: nothing to smile about.
abstract: Dental care is the largest unmet health need among low-income children, yet it garners relatively little attention from policymakers and grantmakers. Foundation giving for dental education and dental care totaled $55.6 million in 2005--a mere 1.6 percent of total health grant making and 0.34 percent of total foundation giving. Health foundations have played a critical role in advancing the U.S. health care system. The need for investments from grantmakers to spur innovation and change in the dental care system is great. This paper describes a range of ideas for strategic grant making to improve oral health in the United States.
authors.affiliation: National Academy for State Health Policy's, Washington, DC, USA. sgehshan@nashp.org
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gehshan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003729:Dental Care / Q000191:economics*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D005381:Financing, Organized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005582:Foundations / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D012380:Role; D014146:Training Support; D014481:United States