A community collaboration: the dental emergency assistance program.

The Dental Emergency Assistance Program is a collaboration between Michigan dentists and a United Way agency. The program's goal is to provide timely, accessible dental care to underserved people in a large metropolitan area. The authors analyzed the program's 1993 activities to determine sources of patient referrals, patients' demographic characteristics, and the types and value of services provided by participating dentists. The evaluation indicated that the Dental Emergency Assistance Program was successfully addressing the emergency dental needs of an underserved portion of the community.