NADP Foundation 2026 Projects – Midyear Updates

At the midyear point, all four 2026 NADP Foundation grantees reported appropriate progress toward year-end completion and an interest in promoting their work to the NADP community. These project updates highlight public-facing progress, implementation milestones, and emerging opportunities to strengthen oral health access, education, and care delivery.

Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine

The Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine is ahead of schedule on its Cavity Free Futures project, which is designed to expand self-paced online training modules, family-facing interventions, and sustainability planning for dental billing. At midyear, the training modules have been completed, five partner organizations have been signed on, and several groups have already begun working through the training. The project team reports growing interest from additional community organizations, suggesting that the model is resonating beyond the initial pilot group. With partners applying the model in different ways based on local needs and settings, the team also notes flexibility as a valuable factor for the project’s success.

Columbia University College of Dental Medicine

Columbia University College of Dental Medicine remains on track with the AHEAD project, which is developing training for dental students on insurance, benefits, coding, and billing. At midyear, the project team has established an advisory committee with diverse perspectives and has drafted module content for review. The training is expected to be piloted with third-year dental students in the fall as part of a core health care delivery course, with evaluation activities planned to assess how the training affects student knowledge, attitudes, and confidence. The team noted that thoughtful sequencing of content development and evaluation planning is helping strengthen the project’s implementation approach. Columbia also expressed interest in exploring how the learning created through this project could eventually be shared more broadly.

University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is on track with implementing a digital patient intake system and on-demand interpretation services in a community clinic setting. At midyear, the project’s iPads have been set up and are already being used by patients to complete medical history forms and support clinic operations. The team is continuing implementation activities related to translation services. As the remaining components are put in place, the project is positioned to generate practical lessons for academic and safety-net dental clinics interested in using digital tools to improve access, communication, and care delivery.

University of Pikeville

The University of Pikeville is progressing on schedule with its teledentistry-focused initiative aimed at better understanding why children in Central Appalachia who have dental benefits may still face barriers to care. At midyear, the team has continued building the infrastructure needed for successful implementation, including faculty and research support, assessment tool development, and curriculum planning. The school has also welcomed its first cohort of students and has begun coursework, creating opportunities to connect the project with student learning and community-informed research.