G-2108-17138

Launched in 2019, NCDHE serves as a national professional network voice that stands in contrast to traditional dentistry. NCDHE aims to unite dentists in support of evidence-based, high quality and cost-effective oral health services and to stand against misinformation and opposition from the ADA.

NCDHE would be a first-time grant recipient if approved for funding this year. Its proposal focuses on building out its operations, including the hiring of a Managing Director, and contracting of a Social Media manager and bookkeeper. To this end, NCDHE also notes that building a Development and Sustainability team will also be a high priority during the proposed grant period.

During the proposed grant period, NCDHE will also be focused on establishing partnerships with other national and statewide organizations that currently occupy national advocacy spaces (e.g., Families USA, Community Catalyst, OPEN, ADEA). Furthermore, the following goals were identified within the workplan:
• Increasing and diversifying membership through data collection, assessment, and responsive outreach to potentially interested professionals
• Collaborating with consumer and advocacy organizations to develop and support culturally sensitive policy recommendations
• Convening dentists committed to oral health equity for webinars, forums, and professional roundtables
• Identifying, recruiting, training, and support of 11 Policy Practitioners, who will be members responsible for responding to federal or state policy actions
• Recruiting two topic specific teams to develop and disseminate coalition recommendations related to key topics of interest (e.g., diversity in the oral health workforce, Medicare dental benefit, etc.) creating educational content to share with stakeholders

Ultimately, NCDHE hopes to serve as the voice for oral health care providers committed to equity. Given the potential for a renewed Medicare policy and regular opposition from the ADA other innovative and more equitable approaches to care, NCDHE’s presence in the oral health space as a provider voice would complement efforts by many of CareQuest Institute’s non-dental professionals/partners. Grant funding at the requested level would make up almost the entirety of the organization’s budget (95%) and most grant funds ($75,000) would go toward general operating/capacity-building by way of hiring a Managing Director. Reviewers were overwhelmingly supportive of funding this proposal and expressed interested in the potential around the existence of an alternative provider voice to the ADA and state dental associations. Based on the contents of this proposal and the reviews from the Internal Review Committee, funding is being recommended at the requested level.