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For many families, the hardest part of getting dental care is not recognizing that their child needs help.
It is finding a way to pay for treatment when insurance will not cover it. It is locating a provider who can manage a child’s medical or developmental needs. It is overcoming language barriers, transportation challenges, or the reality that even discounted care can still be out of reach.
Across the country, children and teens were living with dental needs their families could not solve alone.
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In Minnesota, Grace* and her mother had already done the extraordinary. For nearly 16 years, they had traveled almost 200 miles each way to Apple Tree Dental in Fergus Falls because Grace, who has autism, developmental delays, epilepsy, anxiety, ADHD, and other support needs, had found a dental team that understood her. But when Grace needed a crown to protect a fractured, infected tooth, Medicaid would not cover the treatment her providers recommended. Her mother had found the right care. She just could not cover the financial gap standing in the way.
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In New Jersey, Brianna’s mother knew what it meant to respond in a crisis. As a fire department captain raising five teenagers, she had spent her career caring for others in emergencies. But when 15-year-old Brianna needed complex treatment for severe periodontal disease, her mother faced an emergency of her own. The family did not have dental insurance, and the care Brianna needed was more than she could afford alone.
Seventeen-year-old Daniel lives in Wisconsin with his older sister and needed full-mouth restorative care, including a wisdom tooth extraction. At an age when most teens are thinking about school, friends, work, and what comes next, Daniel was carrying dental needs that would feel overwhelming for many adults.
Jordan needed 13 fillings, a root canal, and likely a crown. Even with the lowest sliding-fee discount available through Miami County Dental Clinic in Troy, Ohio, the remaining cost was still too much for the teenager’s family. She was preparing for adulthood, but first she needed treatment that could help protect her health and restore confidence in her smile.
For 5-year-old Sofia in Minnesota, the barrier was not only cost. She had multiple deep cavities and needed treatment under sedation. Her family needed a provider who could safely care for a young child who was already anxious, communicate in ways that helped her feel secure, and complete treatment without creating more fear.
In West Virginia, Logan had gone about two and a half years without dental care because his family could not afford to pay out of pocket. By the time the 13-year-old was seen through a mobile dental program, he needed a comprehensive exam, sealants, and multiple fillings. Without help, small problems could continue growing into bigger ones.
A school-based outreach program in Kansas discovered that 9-year-old Carlos needed fillings, extractions, and nitrous oxide to help him stay comfortable during treatment. Without that outreach, his dental needs might have stayed hidden until pain or infection made them impossible to ignore.
In Virginia, Amanda was working two jobs while caring for her three children. Even reduced-cost treatment for the extensive care her daughter, Ana, needed was beyond what she could manage. For a parent already stretched thin, the question was not whether her daughter deserved care. It was how to make the numbers work when there simply was not enough.
In Wisconsin, 16-year-old Maya was already feeling the cost of delayed dental treatment in her daily life. Severe tooth pain was keeping her from sleeping, causing her to miss school, and sending her to the school nurse again and again. Pain had become part of her routine. No teenager should have to live that way.
And 12-year-old Mia needed three root canals and crowns to protect compromised teeth. Her mother, who was raising two children on her own, was trying to find a way to cover care that was not fully paid for by medical coverage. But there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to earn enough to pay for the care Mia needed.
Different children. Different cities. Different barriers.
But in each case, a family was standing in the same painful place: their child needed dental care, and the cost of treatment was out of reach.
These are the kinds of gaps our In the Gap Program was created to close.
A gap between what a child needs and what insurance will cover.
A gap between what a family can afford and what treatment costs.
A gap between identifying a problem and being able to fix it.
A gap between pain and relief.
That all changed when generous support from the Solventum Foundation enabled us to award In the Gap grants to help 13 kids receive urgent dental treatment through our safety-net dental clinic partners.
For Grace, that meant she could continue receiving care from the dental team her mother had spent years trusting with her special healthcare needs.
For Brianna, it meant her mother’s call for help was answered, and her daughter could receive care to protect her health, smile, and confidence.
For Daniel, it meant he could keep moving forward with the restorative care he needed while living under circumstances no teenager should have to navigate alone.
For Jordan and Mia, it meant treatment that could help them enter their teenage and young adult years with healthier, more confident smiles.
For Sofia, it meant care could happen safely, with the sedation and support she needed.
For Logan and Carlos, it meant dental needs discovered through outreach could be treated before they became worse.
For Ana’s mother, it meant the relief of knowing that working harder was not the only answer.
And for Maya, it meant the chance to sleep better, return to school more comfortable, and stop living each day around dental pain.
That moment of relief matters.
It is the moment when a parent learns their child does not have to keep hurting. When a bill that felt impossible becomes manageable. When a teen who has been embarrassed to smile can begin to feel more like themselves again. When a caregiver who has been quietly carrying fear, frustration, and guilt realizes someone else cares enough to help.
The Solventum Foundation’s support reflects a shared commitment to improving lives, strengthening communities, and expanding access to care for children who might otherwise go without needed treatment.
Through the In the Gap Program, we work with safety-net dental providers across the country to help children receive urgent care when financial hardship, lack of insurance, limited coverage, distance, or other barriers leave families with nowhere else to turn.
Thanks to the Solventum Foundation, 13 children and teens received support for treatment that included fillings, crowns, root canals, extractions, sedation dentistry, periodontal care, sealants, and other restorative and preventive services.
But many more children are still waiting.
They are trying to sleep through toothaches. Missing school because of pain. Covering their mouths when they laugh. Visiting the school nurse because their families cannot afford the treatment that would solve the problem. Their parents are doing what they can with over-the-counter pain medicine, delayed appointments, extra work shifts, and hope.
Hope is not enough.
Children need care. Families need help. And safety-net dental providers need resources that allow them to say yes when a child’s health is at stake.
You can help close the gap for more children when urgent dental care is out of reach. Donate to In the Gap here.
About the Solventum Foundation
The Solventum Foundation is the charitable arm of Solventum, dedicated toimproving lives and advancing access to care for those who need it most. Wefocus our efforts on three core pillars: supporting our employees in times ofneed, strengthening our communities and responding to global crises. TheFoundation is a separate legal entity, guided by its own board of directors,that works in partnership with Solventum to create meaningful societal impact.
About Solventum
At Solventum, we enable better, smarter, saferhealthcare to improve lives. As a new company with a long legacy of creatingbreakthrough solutions for our customers’ toughest challenges, we pioneergame-changing innovations at the intersection of health, material and datascience that change patients' lives for the better — while empoweringhealthcare professionals to perform at their best. See how at Solventum.com.
*All names have been changed to respectpatient privacy.
