Delta Dental Foundation of North Carolina commits $1 million to dental care and the state's dental workforce
The new foundation of the state's largest dental insurer announced the commitment in Raleigh on Oct. 22. It will fund dental hygiene and assisting programs, two dental schools and community groups that bring care to children and adults; the release names no amounts per grantee.
Raleigh. The Delta Dental Foundation of North Carolina said on Oct. 22 that it is committing $1 million to widen access to dental care across the state and to train more dental professionals. The foundation, set up in 2025 as the charitable arm of the insurer Delta Dental of North Carolina, made the announcement at a press conference at the Poe Center for Health Education in Raleigh.
The money will go to three kinds of work, the foundation said: dental hygiene and dental assisting programs at community colleges, university programs that train future dentists and hygienists, and community organizations that provide oral health education and services to children and adults. The announcement does not say how the $1 million is divided among them, how many grants it will make, or whether other organizations can apply.
Where the gaps are
The foundation cited the shortage it wants to address. The number of dentists in North Carolina has nearly doubled in two decades, it said, but more than half of them practice in six counties that hold 35 percent of the state's population. Twenty five counties fall below the federal threshold for adequate access to dental care, all 100 counties are designated in whole or in part as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas, and four rural northeastern counties, Tyrrell, Hyde, Gates and Camden, have no practicing dentist.
“Expanding access takes lasting commitment and strong partnerships. This investment is a starting point that helps communities meet immediate needs while preparing the dental professionals who will care for our growing state for years to come.”
The first recipients
Several partners described what the money will pay for. Wake Technical Community College is among the first grantees, for its dental hygiene and dental assisting programs. The UNC Adams School of Dentistry will put its share toward digital technology and need based scholarships for dental students, and the East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine toward its special care dentistry program and student training.
Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, a Greensboro nonprofit clinic, said the foundation's support helps patients get through the steps between a first phone call and treatment. The Wake County public health dental clinic, a grantee of the foundation's Smiles for Kids program since 2011, said that program has paid for more than 5,000 sealants placed on children's molars at no cost to their families.
Smiles for Kids, the foundation's existing grant program for nonprofits, is separate from this commitment; in February it awarded grants to 44 North Carolina nonprofits. Delta Dental of North Carolina says it has given more than $2.2 million to over 130 nonprofits in the state since 2011.
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Oct. 26, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
Found an error? Write to [email protected] and we will correct it.
For the organizations in this story: put the badge on your website
Put it on your About page or wherever you list press mentions, rather than in a footer that repeats on every page. It links to this story.
Linking is welcome and never required. Nothing about the story changes either way.