LISLE, Ill. - July 2, 2008 - Delta Dental of Illinois (DDIL) has awarded $45,000 to three Illinois agencies to help educate Illinois citizens on oral health and improve access to care for the underserved in the state. DDIL awards these grants three times per year; the three agencies are the first grantees for 2008.

Part of DDIL's mission is to improve the oral health of the communities it serves. The oral health grants are a key part of DDIL's community benefit program to help achieve that mission. As such, DDIL supports organizations and projects that help improve oral health access or promote oral health education in the state.

The grants awarded by DDIL include:

• The Logan County Health Department in Lincoln received a $10,000 grant to implement an oral health program at Logan County’s Food Pantry, which serves approximately 1,300 people per month. On a quarterly basis, information about oral health "“ along with toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss "“ will be distributed with food items. Children and pregnant women on Medicaid, or those without insurance coverage will be referred to and treated by the HOPE Mobile, a mobile dental unit serving Logan County children and the only dental provider presently accepting new Medicaid patients.

• Milestone Dental Clinic in Rockford received a grant of $10,000 to expand the services they offer to special needs patients in Northwest Illinois to the Greater Chicago area. Through the expansion of services, Milestone Dental Clinic will be able to provide special needs children and adults in the Greater Chicago area with preventative, restorative, routine and emergent care. The clinic expects to increase its client base from 2,400 individuals to 3,500.

• The Illinois Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped (IFDH) received a $25,000 donation, which will support the Donated Dental Services program for elderly, disabled or medically compromised Illinois residents who cannot afford care for severe dental problems and are not eligible for public aid. The IFDH expects to help 425 Illinois residents get $1.1 million dollars in donated care during this fiscal year.

Delta Dental of Illinois (DDIL) is a not-for-profit dental service corporation specializing in providing comprehensive, easy-to-use and cost-effective benefits to 1.4 million enrollees and family members in more than 3,600 employee groups throughout Illinois. Based in Lisle, Ill., DDIL offers an array of extensive nationwide network-based managed fee-for-service, PPO and dental HMO plans.

Delta Dental of Illinois

Delta Dental of Illinois

Delta Dental of Illinois is a not-for-profit dental service corporation that administers and underwrites easy-to-use and cost-effective dental benefit plans for employers based in Illinois. Delta Dental of Illinois has been offering dental benefit programs to Illinois employers since 1967. Delta Dental of Illinois offers an array of plans for Illinois-based employers with two or more enrolled employees and covers employees nationwide. Delta Dental of Illinois is one of 39 independently operated member companies of the Delta Dental Plans Association. Delta Dental is by far the largest and most experienced dental benefits carrier in the country-larger than the #2 and #3 carriers combined. Delta Dental member companies cover more than 51 million of the estimated 170 million people who have dental insurance in 93,000 groups in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

More from Delta Dental of Illinois