Why Prisoners Need Your Gum

There is an ongoing dental health crisis in US prisons and worldwide.

In response we have created the "Every Mouth Matters" campaign to improve prison dental care and gum is an instrumental part of that strategy.

The campaign is intended to be part of a larger consortium we are calling the Oral Health and Function Innovation Forum which shall take a more broad and global approach to the world's dental health crisis.

As part of our efforts to improve oral health in prisons we are convening an Advisory Council committee on oral health innovations that is meant to include industry partners, medical professionals, prison administrators, presently or formerly incarcerated individuals who received lackluster dental care while incarcerated, and other stakeholders.

As this is a collaborative effort between multiple nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status, the value of any donated staff time by an industry partner may qualify as an in-kind donation and be tax-deductible.

Our first priority is to get dental health promoting gums into US prisons' commissary system.

Xylitol-containing gum is priced similarly to alternatives that do not contain the ingredient.

Gums containing specialty ingredients designed to increase their positive impact on oral health tend to be more expensive out of necessity.

Advanced ingredients can include but are not limited to nano hydroxyapatite, probiotics like Streptococcus Salivarius M18, antimicrobial agents like Magnolia Bark Extract, Activated Edathamil, or Erythritol (which is reported to perform even better than Xylitol).

One of the primary goals of the committee is to identify means by which to subsidize gums containing advanced dental properties until they are priced equally or even less expensive than traditional chewing gum.

When one hears the word grants, they probably think of nonprofits but there are circumstances where for-profit companies can receive grant funding.

Like this program for small businesses by the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

"Small businesses are eligible to apply to many of NIH’s standard programs. In addition, NIH has funding programs specifically aimed at small businesses.

NIH is required by statute to reserve a portion of its annual extramural budget for projects under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. These programs, also known as America’s Seed Fund, offer small business entrepreneurs a chance to obtain non-dilutive funding for early-stage research and development.

The goals of our small business program are to:

Stimulate technological innovation

Meet federal research and development needs

Increase private sector commercialization of innovations developed through federal R&D funding

Although the goals are the same and the money always goes to the small business, a key difference between the SBIR and STTR programs is whether partnerships with a non-profit research institution are allowed (SBIR) or required (STTR)."

Our nonprofit is able to advise on parts of the process to get gum into prison commissary systems.

We are also able to help with grant writing.

What we need from you:

Keep making innovative gum and attempt to make your product available through prison commissary suppliers.