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Some of the activities that the Dental Center of Northwest Ohio supports via supplies/services without any form of return revenue are:

• Dental Assistance Project: volunteer dentists treat patients who are homeless or living in transitional housing. All dental services are provided for free, including dentures. The DCNWO provides not only use of the physical space of the DCNWO facility, but also provides supplies and dental assistants needed to treat the homeless

• Give Kids A Smile: Feb 1, 2008—hundreds of area children received free dental care through volunteer dentists and hygienists. Estimated cost to Dental Center: $20,000 for the day (expenses, supplies, materials)

• Dental Options: Patients whose income level is too high to qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford regular dental care are evaluated and assigned a fee schedule based on their income. They are then matched with dentists who will perform their care for the agreed upon fee. The DCNWO houses and coordinates the Dental Options program covering expenses such as laboratory fees and dentist recognition

• Smile Express: DCNWO’s mobile dental coach designed to treat various segments of the low-income population in rural areas, such as migrant workers in the summer. This is operated at the DCNWO’s expense

The Dental Center of Northwest Ohio faces not just these additional non-revenue activities, but recently has needed to adjust to severe funding cutbacks:

• In 2005, the Governor of the State of Ohio cut Medicaid reimbursement. In 2006, the Dental Center lost a quarter of a million dollars. With a great deal of effort in 2007, the Dental Center barely broke even

• Governor Strickland had promised to raise the Medicaid reimbursement in 2008 back to the 2005 level, but the state was financially unable to do this. The Dental Center will again struggle to break even in 2008

At this time, the “Miles for Smiles” campaign is most in need of community support, publicity and funding. Please join us in supporting this worthy program.