Delta Dental of Washington / Fdba Washington Dental Service

See schedule oddwa provides Dental insurance for over 3,959,000 primary subscribers and their dependents throughout the state of Washington and across the nation. Working collectively with producers and benefit managers, we offer standard insurance benefits, as well as highly customized plans to meet the needs of individuals and their families. We have contracted with over 4,800 dentists, creating a network of providers serving patients across the state. As a member of the Delta Dental plans association, a national association supporting Delta insurers nation-wide, our members are able to access Delta contracted providers in every state. In 2023, ddwa processed over 7,784,000 claims for subscribers and their dependents. To ensure providers are submitted claims appropriately, we audited over 43,000 individual claims, the results of which include education of Dental office staff on the use of cdt codes, invoicing procedures and reducing common errors.

See schedule odental disease is the single most common chronic disease of early childhood - five times more common than asthma. Nearly one in five adults, nationally, has untreated Dental cavities. The arcora foundation (the foundation), a wholly owned subsidiary of ddwa, supported almost exclusively by ddwa, focuses much of their work on communities experiencing oral health disparities, and works closely with partner organizations to develop and implement innovative programs that improve oral health. The access to baby and child dentistry (abcd) system of care expands access to Dental care for young medicaid insured children under six and children with a developmental disabilities administration (dda) indicator under 13 in Washington state by providing Dental services, both preventative and restorative. In counties with abcd, the utilization of Dental services increased from 21% to 51% from 1997 to 2023. The early intervention in medical settings programs, mouthmatters, trains pediatric medical providers in the advantages and techniques of early intervention and prevention through oral screening and education, applying fluoridation and referring high risk patients for Dental care.

See schedule odelta Dental of Washington promotes the value of Dental benefits and importance of oral health through marketing efforts in media advertising, public relations, event sponsorships and direct outreach to customers. Market research findings show these activities improve our ability to reach and encourage audiences to embrace good oral health and make wise use of Dental benefits.

1. Water fluoridation is the most important step a community can take to improve the oral health of all residents. The foundation promotes legislation to encourage fluoridation, provides assistance to groups who are committed to bringing the benefits of fluoride to their communities and helps prevent rollbacks in existing fluoridated communities. Since 2001, over 680,000 washingtonians receive the health benefits associated with fluoridated water as a result of the foundation's work.2. Assisting the work of the foundation are ddwa employees volunteering their time. Ddwa enables all employees to engage with the public regarding oral health through the use of two volunteer days per year. The smilemobile program offers volunteer opportunities in assisting with patient recruitment and registration while in a community. The mobile Dental van staffed with Dental professionals, travels the state of wa providing preventive, restorative and emergent Dental care to children, youth and pregnant/postpartum people with a focus on black, indigenous, people of color in underserved areas of the state. Since 1995, the program has examined over 48,000 patients.3. Ddwa matches donations made by employees to non-profit organizations with official irs 501(c)(3) status, although the following organizations/events are not eligible for matching: churches, political campaigns/organizations, capital funding, fraternal/labor organizations, trips/tours, mass mailings, organizations/groups that discriminate for any reason including, but not limited to, race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, sexual orientation or national origin.4. In 2021, ddwa awarded pacific northwest university school of health sciences (pnwu) $2m grant to support costs associated with planning and development of a degree program awarding a doctorate of Dental medicine. In march 2023, the final payment of $1m was made. In june 2023, ddwa pledged an additional $10m to pnwu to support planning, development, and construction of a school of Dental medicine. As of december 31, 2023, $3.25m was paid under the agreement. Ddwa also provided $288k to uw school of dentistry to cover the Washington state department of oral health Dental exams for its graduating class.