This project brings dental care right into the Cleveland elementary schools and encourages dental students to embark on a career of community service.

The brainchild of Jim Lalumandier, DDS, Chairman of the Department of Community Dentistry at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), this successful LIFP project provides dental services, education and referrals by partnering the CWRU School of Dentistry, the Cleveland municipal school district, local funders and community dentists.

Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland designated the project as one of its strategic funding initiatives, served as the nominating funder for Healthy Smiles for an LIFP matching grant and produced a video to highlight the project’s success in improving oral health for inner-city school children, many of whom have never been to a dentist.

Click here to see the video using Windows Media Player. (Download this free viewing software here.)

Dr. Lalumandier and his colleague Kay F. Molkentin describe the partnership behind the program in the journal Health Affairs. Download their Special Report in the November/December 2004 issue: “Establishing, Funding, and Sustaining a University Outreach Program in Oral Health.”

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