Dade County Dental Research Clinic receives $100,000 to support Community Smiles - Westside Gazette

Dental care will soon be more accessible for uninsured patients in Miami-Dade County thanks to The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida (BFHF). The Dade County Dental Research Clinic (DCDRC) recently received a $100,000 grant from The BFHF, the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF). The funding will be used to support Community Smiles, a community dental clinic.

Community Smiles provides preventive, restorative and highly specialized dental and oral health care treatment to low-income, uninsured patients in Miami-Dade County. The clinic team is made up of 138 volunteer dental professionals. Funding will provide for the hiring of two additional full-time residents as part of the Dental Teaching Program. With two additional staff members, the program expects to increase its patient capacity from 1,558 patients to 2,532 patients per year.

"This grant gives Community Smiles the opportunity to significantly increase the number of patients that we can treat,” said Barbara Kubilus, executive director of the DCDRC. “This generous support from The Blue Foundation enables us to focus on improving the health issues affecting the uninsured in our state."

The BFHF is dedicated to making a constructive contribution to the health and well-being of Floridians – especially the uninsured and underserved. The DCDRC grant is one of 10 totaling $747,960, The BFHF has presented this summer to nonprofit health clinics and community outreach programs across Florida.

"The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida is proud to support Dade County Dental Research Clinic and Community Smiles,” said Susan Towler, executive director of The BFHF. “It is through collaborations like these that we are able to improve access to quality health care for Florida’s communities."

The BFHF awards grants during two grant cycles per year. With the completion of the 2007 summer grant cycle, The BFHF will have awarded 133 grants totaling nearly $7.4 million since its founding in 2001.

The BFHF is a separate, philanthropic affiliate of BCBSF incorporated in the state of Florida. The BFHF, and its parent, BCBSF, are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information on The BFHF, please visit its website at www.bluefoundationfl.com.

Community Smiles is a dental clinic created to treat the medically underserved low-income population of Miami-Dade County through a partnership with Jackson Memorial Medical Center and the Public Health Trust. Established in 1946 as the DCDRC, its founding premise, which continues today, is to provide professional dental care for the low-income community. Dedicated, licensed dentists donate their time, vision and energy to the underserved in their community. Throughout its history, Community Smiles has enhanced the overall wellbeing of its patients. For more information on Community Smiles, please call (305) 325-0510. Caroline Carithers