The Healthier Smiles Community Service Grants are now open

ADA member dentists and dental students with a passion for improving the oral health outcomes of disadvantaged groups throughout Australia can now apply for USD$82,000 (approx. AUD$107,000)* in funding.

The Healthier Smiles Community Service Grants (the Grants), a joint initiative of the Australian Dental Health Foundation and Mars Wrigley Foundation, provides recipients with the funds to implement oral health community service, education, and preventative care in some of the highest risk and most in-need communities across Australia.

With more than US$800,000 (approx. AUD$1 million*) already invested over a decade in oral health screening, treatment and education, the Grants are offering 10 x US$8,200 grants (approx. AUD$10,780*) this year for registered ADA dentists or students.

The Grants have three main aims:

- To enable the delivery of oral health programs that provide sustained benefits - screening, treatment and education - for disadvantaged groups throughout Australia. 

- To promote the work the dental community is doing to address oral health inequities faced by disadvantaged members of the Australian community, and

- To ensure Australia’s oral health outcomes continue to improve through improved access, delivery and education.

Among the many past recipients who have contributed significantly to the oral health of disadvantaged Australians are Smyla Australia whose grant enabled them to educate low socio-economic populations in NSW on the importance of oral health.

The program included seminars and info sessions with parents and kids on important topics like sugar and diet, exercise, techniques to toothbrushing and flossing etc. with a clear focus on not simply treating the patients but equipping them with the tools to prevent oral diseases from developing in the first place.

Another successful recipient was Your Community Health which, as part of the group's mission "to deliver health and wellbeing services and promote equity", sought to increase the accessibility of the oral health education and disease stabilisation services for AOD (alcohol and other drug) clients within the Northern Metro Region of Melbourne.

Their program aimed to increase dental knowledge and health literacy among the people they serve, with concomitant goals of increasing their access to dental services, access and use of oral health care products and empowering them to take charge of their own oral health outcomes.

For a full list of past recipients and to apply for a grant, go to Australian Dental Health Foundation

*The exact amount distributed in AUD$ may fluctuate with the exchange rate at the time of distribution.