OUR HISTORY
1982: The Oregon Dental Foundation was organized in March by the Board of Trustees of the Oregon Dental Association to provide financial assistance for dental health awareness and education activities, scholarship grants, and loans to dental health professionals to further their education in dentistry, and funding of applied clinical research projects.
1983: The Oregon Dental Foundation applied to the IRS for public charity classification and became the charitable arm to the Oregon Dental Association.
1997: The Oregon Dental Foundation established an advised fund with the Oregon Community Foundation, with the Dental Foundation making grant funding recommendations and the Oregon Community Foundation administering and processing the grants totaling $435,762, until 2003.
2004: The Oregon Dental Foundation changed its advised fund to an endowment partner fund with the Oregon Community Foundation. The Dental Foundation assumed the grant administration, and made grants/distributions directly. From 1997 to 2007, The Dental Foundation provided grants totaling more than $366,235.
2007: The Oregon Smile Survey was published in 2007 revealing a cavity crisis among Oregon’s children. The Oregon Dental Foundation board of directors changed the name of the non-profit from the Oregon Dental Foundation to The Dental Foundation of Oregon. The mission was revised and The Dental Foundation of Oregon became a direct service provider through its mobile dental clinic called the Tooth Taxi. The Tooth Taxi launched in September of 2007, a unique public/private partnership between The Dental Foundation of Oregon, Moda Health, and OEA Choice Trust that remained through 2021.
2011: In 2011, the IRS approved The Dental Foundation of Oregon’s name change, and continued to classify the organization as a 501 (c)(3) with the federal EIN of 93-0818476.
2023: After 90,053 miles, and more than 25,000 children screened for dental care and educated about oral hygiene worth $9,014,207 in free services, the first Tooth Taxi was retired, de-commissioned, and donated. Oral care services were on hold the entirety of 2023 while a new custom-built Tooth Taxi was created.
2024: In February, a new state-of-the-art Tooth Taxi began serving Oregon children, funded in part by private donors and foundation funding, along with a $75,000 sponsorship from Moda Health.