North Dakota Dental Foundation

The North Dakota Dental Foundation is committed to achieving a future where all oral health needs are effectively addressed. Our mission is to address oral health challenges with compassion and a focus on human needs, aiming to prevent pain and suffering, particularly for patients facing barriers to care. In 2023, the Foundation initiated a research study to understand better access to Dental care for medicaid patients in North Dakota.

Bright futures in dentistry is a collaborative initiative between the North Dakota Dental association and the North Dakota state college of science. This program promotes Dental assisting as a viable career option for high school students by facilitating connections between local Dental practices and students through career fairs, scrubs camps, and speaking engagements. Additionally, the program offers grant reimbursements to clinics and individuals to support chairside-trained Dental assistants obtaining danb certification, enabling them to become licensed as qualified or registered practitioners in North Dakota. In 2023, fifteen individuals received reimbursement for participating in the danb examination..

1 million brushes initiative: the North Dakota Dental Foundation is dedicated to distributing one million toothbrushes to needy children by 2030. Tooth decay remains the leading chronic disease among children, and if left untreated, it can lead to significant challenges in eating, speaking, playing, and learning. In 2023, the Foundation hosted a packing event in collaboration with paterson Dental, assembling 20,000 toothbrush kits, which were distributed throughout North Dakota. Since the program's inception in 2017, over 230,000 toothbrushes and thousands of Dental kits have been provided, positively impacting the oral health and smiles of children in need across the state.