The U-M School of Dentistry and three other organizations across the state will collaborate to develop a comprehensive interprofessional program to reduce the burden of childhood dental disease in Michigan.
The effort is made possible by the U.S. government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which has awarded a $9.4 million grant to the Altarum Institute in Ann Arbor, the School of Dentistry, Delta Dental of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Community Health.
Dr. Margherita Fontana, a professor of dentistry, will oversee U-M staff and faculty involved in the pilot clinical program.
It involves patients, their families and oral health care providers at Mott Children’s Health Center in Flint. The center provides oral health care services to Genesee County residents, from birth through age 18, whose families fall within 200 percent of the federal government’s poverty guidelines (annual income of less than $47,700 for a family of four).
