Oral health grant recipients announced

Oral health grant recipients announced

Youth, migrants and high risk groups to benefit from dental health grants

Dental aid to remote Fijian islands, ensuring Hamilton’s homeless have access to oral health services and the study of developmental defects among children are just three of the projects being supported by the Wrigley Company Foundation and the New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA).

The 2014 Community Service Grants programme will directly make a difference to high risk and underserviced groups such as children, physically disabled, visually impaired, geographically isolated, Maori and Filipino.

The Wrigley Company Foundation and the NZDA have awarded a total of US$23,000 to 12 organisations working to improve the oral health of New Zealanders and that of our Pacific neighbours.

Andrew Leakey, General Manager of Wrigley Pacific, says Wrigley is committed to improving the oral health of New Zealanders.

“The grants and the hard-working volunteers who run the successful programmes help to bridge the gap in access to oral care services and dental education throughout New Zealand. Wrigley is committed to improving the state of dental health in New Zealand and around the globe.

“The Extra Oral Healthcare Programme operates in 47 countries worldwide to engage dentists on the benefits of sugarfree gum as part of good oral healthcare routine, and initiatives such as the Community Service Grants are dedicated to supporting the communities where oral care support is needed most,” he says.

The grants programme was introduced by the Wrigley Company Foundation in collaboration with the NZDA in 2012 and provides a total of US$84,000 in grant funds across three years to support the implementation of oral health projects in at risk communities.

Dr David Crum, chief executive officer of the New Zealand Dental Association, says the Wrigley Company Foundation NZDA Community Service Grants support dentists across the country who volunteer their time and services to assist some of New Zealand’s most at risk communities.

“The grants are vitally important to help dental professionals develop new programmes and expand existing community service work within their own communities.”

The grants include ten US$1,000 Dentist Practitioner Grants, one US$8,000 ‘Principles in Action’ Grant which helps activate a larger scale project, and one US$5,000 Pacific Region Dental Aid Grant which enables a dental team to visit an underserviced community in the Pacific Islands.

Dr Assil Russell of River Road Dental Centre, the recipient of the Principles in Action Grant, says the fund will help treat and educate an underserviced sector of the Waikato community as part of a broader project to improve oral health.

“Our Revive a Smile community dental project has come a long way in a short time and we've seen a lot of improvement in the oral and general health of those we are serving. An example of the project’s success is its ability to improve employment prospects for those who would normally not get a job offer due to an unappealing smile and poor oral health,” she says.

ENDS

© Scoop Media