The Minnesota Department of Health is seeking applications for its 2026 Clinical Dental Education Innovation Grant Program.
Donor Name: Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)
State: Minnesota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/05/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The purpose of this program is to support projects that increase dental access for underserved populations and promote innovative clinical dental education or clinical training programs.
Priorities
Health Equity Priorities
- It is the policy of the State of Minnesota to ensure fairness, precision, equity, and consistency in competitive grant awards. This includes implementing diversity and inclusion in grant-making. The Policy on Rating Criteria for Competitive Grant Review establishes the expectation that grant programs intentionally identify how the grant serves diverse populations, especially populations experiencing inequities and/or disparities.
- This grant will serve underserved populations, including:
- People with a low income
- People living in rural areas in Minnesota
- People that have immigrated to Minnesota
- People living with disabilities
- People on medical assistance programs and/or who are uninsured
- People of diverse racial, ethnic, and/or cultural backgrounds
- Other underserved communities as described by grant applicant
- Grant outcomes will include:
- Increased access to care for underserved communities
- Creation or expansion of innovative dental education or training.
Funding Information
- An estimated $1,122,000 will be available for this grant cycle.
- Estimated Award Maximum: $150,000.
- Estimated Award Minimum: $30,000.
Grant Period
January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026.
Eligible Projects
This grant funds projects that increase dental access for underserved populations and promote innovative clinical training of dental professionals. While project eligibility is broad, proposed projects must result in a direct and quantifiable increase in access to care for at least one underserved population through innovative clinically accredited training.
- Examples of eligible projects under this program include but are not limited to:
- Establishing or expanding a dental professional clinical training program
- Providing dental services to underserved population(s) through the clinical education program
- Building or renovating clinic space for the clinical education program
- Procuring, modernizing, or replacing equipment used in the delivery of dental care at a clinic through the clinical education program
- Improving care delivery through education related to health equity
- Improving the applicant’s ability to provide tele-dentistry care through clinical training.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include teaching institutions and clinical training sites that train dental professionals. The teaching institution or the clinical training site must provide accredited clinical training. An exception can be made if the organization is actively seeking accreditation with a reasonable assumption of success.
- All applicant organizations must also have a policy to ensure no person will be denied services due to inability to pay (e.g., sliding-fee scale).
- Grant funds are not transferrable to any other entity. Applicants that are aware of any upcoming mergers, acquisitions, or any other changes in their organization or legal standing, must disclose this information to MDH in their application, or as soon as they are aware of it.
For more information, visit MDH.
