United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN) has closed its Smiles United Dental Crisis Fund to non-veterans - for now.
Applications remain open with limited funds still available for veterans and servicemembers across the Iron Range, Koochiching County, and Lake of the Woods County, but UWNEMN is hoping to raise enough funds on this Thursday’s Give to the Max Day - Minnesota’s statewide “day of giving” – to reopen the fund to all who need it.
UWNEMN established the NE MN Dental Task Force in 2024 to address workforce, transportation, and other barriers to dental care access in the region. Stakeholders agree the lack of providers and accessible programs have exacerbated oral healthcare issues in the region.
“If you can’t get to a dentist for preventive care, you’re more likely to develop issues,” said UWNEMN Executive Director Erin Shay. “Now you’re in pain, stressed, with few places to turn. Unfortunately finding a provider to help is not the end to the stress as payment is often required upfront, and even those with insurance are finding coverage gaps that prohibit them from receiving needed care.”
UWNEMN and the NE MN Dental Task Force are focusing on upstream efforts to increase the number of dental providers in the region, including speaking to students about the opportunities to provide dental care rurally.
“However, until we see changes in the availability of dental providers in our region, crisis funding remains essential to prevent dental emergencies from escalating into broader healthcare and financial crises,” Shay said.
Fourth-year University of Minnesota School of Dentistry student Madison Nohrer just completed a clinical rotation in Hibbing where she served Iron Range area patients – and met with UWNEMN.
“I have seen firsthand how one broken tooth, infection, or unexpected cost can unravel months or years of effort to stay afloat,” she said, reflecting on a patient who began using opioids at age 12 because he had dental pain, and his family couldn’t afford dental care.
That individual is in recovery now and about to receive his first denture at 23 years old.
“I think often about how different his life might have been if someone could have intervened sooner,” Nohrer said. “That is what this fund makes possible. It does not just treat teeth; it changes the trajectory of people’s lives.”
UWNEMN’s Smiles United Dental Crisis Fund was established earlier this year with support from the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation and St. Louis County Community Development Block Grant; a percentage of funding was designated for veterans only.
Learn more about UWNEMN’s Smiles United Dental Crisis Fund. To request a paper crisis fund application for a local veteran, call 218-215-2424.
Donations to support the fund can be made online OR sent via mail with a note indicating your designation to 608 East Drive, Chisholm MN 55719. All donations will directly to help those most in need.