Access Dental Care Newsletter

April | 2026

Dear friends,

With the arrival of spring across North Carolina, we continue reaching patients who cannot access traditional dental care. We see every day the difference this makes and are grateful for those who support it. This month, we highlight our progress in New Hanover County and share stories from across our work.

With gratitude,

Bill Milner & Betsy Lee White

Co-founders of Access Dental Care

New Hanover County Award-Winning Program

Something is happening in the Wilmington area beyond its seafood and beaches. Four years ago, the New Hanover County Commissioners asked Access Dental Care (ADC) to establish an Older Adult Dental Program for community residents aged 55 and over.

Our team delivers care three days a week at rotating community locations. The program aims to improve oral health outcomes in the county in the county by providing no-cost dental care to low-income patients to develop long-term treatment planning, and ensuring continuity of care.

The results speak for themselves.

Results in Action:

91%

Returned For Care

650+

Patients Seen

Preventive Care

Increasing Year Over Year

Expanding Specialized Care and Hospital Access: The mobile dental team serves 19 nursing and group home day centers in that part of the state. Dr. Leone, our team leader, is being credentialed at NOVANT Health and will begin treating some of our most medically complex patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the operating room.

Training Tomorrow’s Providers Today: ADC staff are busy providing care while also sponsoring student rotations from the UNC Adams School of Dentistry and the Cape Fear Community College Hygiene Program.

We could not have done this without the support of the New Hanover Commissioners, the New Hanover County Health Department, the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center, The Endowment and the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation.

In the News: A National Model for Special Care Dentistry

We are honored to share that Access Dental Care has been featured in The Helen Journal as a national model for special care dentistry.

The article highlights how our statewide, mobile model is improving access for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), frail older adults, and medically complex patients.

We are proud to see this work recognized and to continue advancing access to oral healthcare across North Carolina.

Read The Full Article

A Year of Impact: Access Dental Care’s 2025 Annual Report

This year’s report reflects more than milestones. As we celebrate 25 years of progress in special care dentistry, we reflect on how far we have come and the work still ahead.

Across North Carolina, our 6 mobile dental teams bring essential, compassionate care directly to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, frail older adults, and medically fragile patients who would otherwise go without.

Inside, you will see the impact made possible through the generosity of our donors and partners.

Read the Report

We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped move this work forward in 2025.

"I Didn't Think of That"

Have you ever wondered what someone who is in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease or a person with Autism does when they have a toothache?

How does their caregiver know that they are hurting?

Where do they go for care?

They contact us.

Every week we see patients and their families who have been to multiple traditional dentists who don't have the skills to take care of them. We welcome them to the program, and then we see them break down in tears of relief. They have found a dental home that treats special care patients the same as anyone else.

At a nursing or group home day center they don't even have to arrange transportation. We come to them with a dental team (dentist, hygienist, 2 assistants) and 2 operatories of dental equipment, seeing an average of 20 patients each day, 5 days a week.

Everyday, out team provide onsite dental care, from preventative care, cleaning to medically complex treatments.

How easy is that!

BECAUSE OF YOU, CARE CONTINUES.

Much of our reimbursement comes from Medicaid, which covers only a fraction of the care we provide. For every dollar of service, we are reimbursed just 32 cents.

We depend on gifts to make up the difference. Supporting Access Dental Care helps us bring essential dental care directly to individuals who cannot access traditional offices.