This funding will support the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI) in its work to address racial and ethnic disparities in oral health. These dsparities include recent findings that Hispanic and Asian children were 25 percent more likely to have dental decay than white children, and that among children covered by Medicaid, black children were least likely to receive preventive oral health care. COHI’s work will include focusing on Medicaid eligibility and payment rates for dental care to ensure access to care. The organization also plans to focus on support for community health centers and school-based health centers, which provide oral health care to low-income children and adults, and seek to allow young adults to remain on their parents’ dental insurance plans until age 26, similar to what is currently allowed for health insurance.
Other Grants: