Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine recently welcomed a gift of $1 million from the Delta Dental Foundation, a long time partner of the school. The gift will be used toward new equipment to better serve patients, helping to secure the future of academic dentistry at CWRU.

The gift was announced publicly at the CWRU Dental Donor Appreciation Brunch on Oct. 14, where officials from the Delta Dental Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental operations in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and North Carolina, presented the dental school with a check.

Teri Battaglieri, executive director of the Delta Dental Foundation said, “The School of Dental Medicine has a reputation for excellence and a strong commitment to patient care and community service, and we’re very proud to provide $1 million to support the equipment and instrumentation needs of the School of Dental Medicine, which will offer high-quality care to patients and outstanding clinical educational opportunities for students.”

Since the beginning of the partnership in 2001—when the Delta Dental Foundation provided a gift to support students on scholarships—the foundation has continued to support student scholarships annually, giving out student leadership awards as well as providing financial assistance for education and community initiatives centered around dentistry. This recent gift is their largest awarded to the dental school yet and signals an ever-strengthening relationship.

Speaking about the future of the partnership, the school’s dean, Kenneth Chance said, “Delta Dental is committed not just to providing excellent dental benefits but building healthier communities.” He continued, “This recent gift from their foundation will allow us to increase our investment in state-of-the-art equipment, which will not only benefit the patients we see but will provide opportunities for interprofessional clinical education with the university’s other health-science schools. This will ultimately make a big difference in the community we serve.”

The dental school’s approach has long been applauded for its interdisciplinary style of promoting care of patients by allowing students and faculty to interact with colleagues from the university’s other health-science schools, hence providing better care.