Improving oral health across Colorado takes more than clinical care — it requires sustained investment, strong partnerships, and a deep understanding of community needs. Our 2025 Evaluation Report offers a closer look at how that work is unfolding statewide. It primarily examines grantmaking under our 2021–2024 theory of change, highlights key 2025 activities, and identifies opportunities to strengthen future investments.
The Impact: Reaching communities where they are
• 63,266 Coloradans served in 2025, contributing to ~340,000 reached over three years
• Reached communities in 53 counties through prevention, access, and workforce initiatives
• Focused on bringing care directly to where people live, learn, and work
• Continued reach into priority populations, including rural communities and families with low incomes
In 2025 alone, grantee partners served 63,266 Coloradans, contributing to approximately 340,000 people reached over three years. These efforts spanned 53 counties and focused on prevention, access to care, and workforce development, often by delivering services directly in communities through mobile care, school-based screenings, and local outreach. This approach continues to reach those most affected by barriers to care, including rural residents, families with low incomes, young children, and communities of color; in 2025, grantees reached 43,789 people of color and 30,981 people with low incomes. This work is contributing to measurable statewide progress, with dental visits increasing from 66% in 2009 to 73% in 2025 and coverage rising from 63% to 81%. At the same time, gaps remain, particularly in rural and economically underserved communities, reinforcing the need for continued, focused investment.
Key takeaways
• DDCOF successfully navigated a strategic bridge year while maintaining momentum in communities
• Oral health challenges persist related to workforce, funding, and policy pressures
• DDCOF’s leadership and funding are essential to sustaining community-based programs
• DDCOF expanded leadership beyond grantmaking through policy, data, and field-building efforts
In 2025, DDCOF navigated a strategic bridge year, implementing a new theory of change while continuing to support ongoing work under the previous strategy — allowing progress in communities to continue without disruption. At the same time, grantees and partners highlighted ongoing challenges, including workforce shortages, financial uncertainty, and policy pressures that shape what is possible locally. Across the board, partners emphasized that consistent funding is critical; without it, many programs would scale back or stop. This reinforces DDCOF’s role not only as a funder, but as a stabilizing force behind community-based care. In 2025, that role extended beyond grantmaking to include policy engagement, leadership, and data investments, positioning the foundation as both a convener and a leader in advancing oral health.
What’s Working
• Bringing care directly to communities (mobile clinics, schools, shelters)
• Expanding telehealth solutions to reach rural and hard-to-access populations
• Building workforce pathways with training, mentorship, and education programs
• Strengthening partnerships across health, education, and community organizations
Grantees are seeing strong results by delivering care in trusted community settings while expanding mobile clinics and TeleORALHealth to overcome geographic, transportation, and cost barriers. Partnerships with schools, public health agencies, and community organizations are strengthening referral pathways and connecting families to care, with culturally and linguistically responsive approaches helping build trust. At the same time, workforce and prevention efforts are expanding impact by supporting students entering oral health careers, creating re-entry pathways for internationally trained providers, and increasing early access to screenings and dental homes. Community education is reaching tens of thousands of Coloradans, and programs like the Healthy Universal Preschool Collaborative illustrate this progress, serving 1,973 children and generating more than 320 referrals in its first year.
Challenges
• Workforce shortages and retention challenges, particularly in rural communities
• Rising costs, financial uncertainty, and funding instability
• Barriers to access, including cost, transportation, and awareness
• Broader policy and political pressures affecting community confidence and utilization
While progress is real, it remains fragile. Grantees consistently emphasized that this work depends on reliable funding and support, noting that many programs would scale back or discontinue without it. Programs are succeeding because they are adaptive, trusted, and community-centered, but they operate within systems under strain. Sustaining and expanding this progress will require continued investment, coordination, and leadership.
Key opportunities
• Expanding flexible, multi-year funding
• Strengthening policy and advocacy efforts
• Improving data collection and shared learning
• Prioritizing workforce sustainability
Colorado Health Institute (CHI) highlights clear opportunities to deepen impact, including more flexible funding, stronger policy engagement, improved data sharing, and sustained focus on the workforce. Continued progress will depend on coordinated efforts across prevention, education, access, and workforce strategies working together in communities.
Current Cohort-Based Grantmaking
DDCOF continued its grantmaking in early 2026, awarding $3.2 million over three years to 25 projects across the state. These investments focus on reducing tooth decay among children and older adults and improving access to care in rural and frontier communities. An in-depth evaluation of these projects is planned for spring 2027.
What comes next
Oral health progress is not driven by a single intervention, but by a network of prevention, education, access, and workforce strategies working together. This report comes at a transition point as DDCOF implements its 2025–2029 theory of change, broadening the work to better reflect the needs of Coloradans across the lifespan, with increased emphasis on prevention, proactivity, and access.
As this strategy takes shape, the evaluation provides both affirmation and direction — reinforcing what is working while highlighting where continued focus is needed.
Our commitment remains the same: meet communities where they are and invest in what works. Sustained, community-centered investment drives meaningful impact and the work continues. Moving forward, these insights will guide how we deepen impact, strengthen partnerships, and advance the well-being of Coloradans through improved oral health.