brightSMILES Dental Partnership

Sierra Health Foundation’s brightSMILES Dental Partnership promotes children’s oral health and disease prevention.

In partnership with the California Children’s Dental Disease Prevention Program (CDDPP) and the UC San Francisco School of Restorative Dentistry, in 2007 Sierra Health awarded more than $1 million to 11 children's oral health programs in Northern California.

School-based oral health programs received three-year grants to provide prevention services, including screenings, sealants, fluoride treatments and oral health education for low-income children in 10 counties. With this funding, grantees are either expanding an existing CDDPP-funded program to serve additional children or establishing a new program based on the CDDPP model.

During the first year, 7,500 children received fluoride treatments and 1,800 children received sealants. In addition, 3,000 children received oral hygiene instruction, and almost 6,000 children and more than 1,600 parents received oral health education.

Sierra Health also awarded a grant to the Sacramento District Dental Foundation to provide no-cost dental screenings and treatment for low-income children in the Greater Sacramento area through its volunteer-based Smiles for Kids program.

Community Water Fluoridation

Fluoridation of community water supplies continues to be a focus of the brightSMILES Dental Partnership. Sierra Health awarded a $250,000 grant to the City of West Sacramento, providing the final funding needed to fluoridate West Sacramento's water. The grant will support the purchase and installation of fluoridation equipment, and support the first year of operation. Other funding partners include the city, Yolo County, First 5 Yolo and The California Endowment. Learn more about water fluoridation on the California Department of Public Health Web site.

There are no brightSMILES funding opportunities in 2009 or 2010.