Grants for Dental Care in Nursing Homes

Dental care in nursing homes is becoming an issue of increasing importance and focus in the public health arena because of the size and projected growth of the elderly population; adequate programs do not exist to match this need. Nursing homes and other care providers therefore may look to grants as one resource for preparing to meet dental care needs for the elderly.

Sources

• A number of foundations exist for promoting dental health and supporting services that provide dental care to populations in need. Sources of grants for dental care may be private or public, with public sources including federal government agencies and state government initiatives, and private sources including a wide range of charitable foundations and public health organizations.

Eligibility

• Many grants for dental care are typically given only to nonprofit organizations, so to receive funding for dental care in nursing homes the care giving institution must be a registered nonprofit organization. While some grants have been given to organizations to start new dental care programs for the elderly, others may require evidence of an existing initiative for providing dental care in nursing homes, and specific criteria for applying for funding vary from grant to grant.

Types

• Some organizations, such as the American Dental Association, provide a list of focus areas for grants and do not consider requests for grant funding outside of those areas. While the ADA may sometimes offer grants for dental care in nursing homes, their main focus areas tend to be in children's dental health. DentaQuest Foundation, on the other hand, offers grants on an ongoing basis to unsolicited proposals, so any organization seeking funding can submit a proposal to receive a grant for their dental care program.

Considerations

• Certain grant funding resources for dental care in nursing homes may target specific types of individuals, such as veterans or people with disabilities. If your care giving facility provides services to residents who fall into any of these categories, you may be eligible to seek grant funding support targeting those residents in particular. Grant search tools such as Foundation Center allow you to create an account and filter your search for grants for dental care to include the relevant populations served by your proposed program.

Geography

• Specific grant programs for dental care in nursing homes are currently prevalent in a few states, including Maryland, Massachusetts and Florida. Florida has a particularly high focus on dental care in nursing homes because of the concentration of retirees and other elderly individuals residing in the state, so facilities in Florida and other states with particularly large elderly populations typically have more grant sources available to them.