Born as a philanthropic affiliate of the California Dental Association, the intent of the CDA Foundation is to increase access to dental care for vulnerable people. Since 2001, the CDA Foundation has strategically sought to offer programs that ultimately benefit the underserved, those who are currently unable to receive access to oral care.
The Foundation relies on the generous collective support of donors, grants and corporate gifts to fund programs that equip the California dental community to serve the most critical segments of the population.
Simply put, your generous donations fund our programs and services that help all Californians receive dental care that affords them their healthy smile. A tall order, we know, but through innovative programs the CDA Foundation is changing the faces of the more vulnerable populations, specifically children, working families and the elderly.
The CDA Foundation works with experts in the dental profession, private business, academic institutions and government to produce programs such as community clinics, mobile dental programs and educational outlets that increase access to care, promote prevention education and intervention, advance health policy research and build a sustainable oral health workforce.
Ensuring a sustainable oral health workforce is crucial to expanding the availability of oral health services for all Californians, particularly as the needs of California’s underserved and culturally-diverse communities expand. The CDA Foundation addresses this issue through educational grants and scholarships to soon-to graduate dental students or recent dentist and/or specialty graduates. With such enormous financial obligation post graduation, new dental professions are economically discouraged from working in underserved areas. Supporting student achievement helps provide an opportunity for students to succeed in their academic programs and explore careers in nontraditional practice settings, such as clinics in underserved communities.
Support is provided to dental societies, community organizations, or educational institutions interested in establishing new dental hygiene programs, creating innovative methods of providing dental hygiene education or expansion of current programs. Currently, few too many hygienists are entering the workforce due to lack of hygiene institutions. With more programs in place, the increase of hygienists will expand the coverage and availability of preventative oral health services.
The Dental Materials and Supplies Grant Program works in concert with the Henry Schein Cares Program to provide a broad selection of dental products and materials to help nonprofit organizations and clinics enhance the quality of dental care of underserved individuals and families in local California communities.
The CDA Foundation Relief Fund renders financial aid to dentists, their dependents, or dependents of deceased dentists if an accidental injury, advanced age, physically debilitating illness or medically related condition prevents them from gainful employment and results in undue financial strain.
The CDA Foundation is proud to be partnering with the ADA Foundation’s Our Legacy – Our Future campaign. Our Legacy-Our Future is a support tool to raise awareness for the needs in dental education and to enhance the visibility for the fundraising campaigns of its partner organizations.
The CDA Foundation Humanitarian Award was established to recognizes California dentists who have distinguished themselves by outstanding, unselfish leadership and contributions to fellow human beings in the field of dentistry, through the dedication of extraordinary time and professional skills, to improve the oral health of underserved populations in California, the United States, or abroad.
To donate, please visit, CDA Foundation