ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan dental students will provide free dental care for underserved women in Wayne County with the help of a $5,000 grant from the Delta Dental Foundation.

The foundation granted the funds through its Brighter Futures Community Grant program. The project’s main affiliation is with Dearborn, Mich.-based Vista Maria, a nonprofit that helps abused girls and women rebuild their lives.

This goal of the project is for third- and fourth-year dental students to provide free, comprehensive dental care to the 120 female residents of Vista Maria. Credentialed volunteer dentists will supervise the work.

Grant recipients were selected based on a number of criteria, including the number of at-risk children or adults served by the program, the program’s uniqueness, the level of community involvement in the program and the ability to measure results.

“This resource will jumpstart our efforts to provide care to this vulnerable population,” said Dr. Wilhelm Piskorowski, assistant dean for community-based dental education at the U-M School of Dentistry. “It is our intent to understand the complexities that these young ladies face and to design a service template that will work with governmental programs to deliver compassionate, comprehensive, predictable and long-term sustainability.”

Established in 2012, Delta Dental’s Brighter Futures initiative is dedicated to improving the oral and overall health and well-being of children and adults across the state through education, advocacy and philanthropy.

More information:

• U-M School of Dentistry
• Delta Dental Brighter Futures