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April 24, 2024

DELTA DENTAL OF ILLINOIS PRESENTS AWARDS TO TWO UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO DENTAL STUDENTS

LISLE, IL - May 8, 2006 - Delta Dental of Illinois announced that dental students Maha Blaibel and Kenneth L. Eichholz Jr. have won the 2006 Delta Dental of Illinois Award for outstanding dental record keeping at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. The awards, which also require that the students practice dentistry in Illinois, were given Thursday, May 4, at a ceremony at the dental school. As part of the award, each student will receive a $2,500 scholarship from Delta Dental of Illinois.

Blaibel and Eichholz, who graduate this year, were selected in recognition of their outstanding dental record keeping, as evaluated by the dental school faculty. Blaibel is originally from Saudi Arabia and will practice in Chicago, and Eichholz is from Freeport, Illinois and will practice in Forreston, south of Freeport.

"Part of Delta Dental of Illinois' mission is to improve access to oral health care in Illinois. To further this mission, Delta Dental of Illinois is pleased to help support the dental profession in Illinois by recognizing these students for their professionalism in providing patient care services," said Robert Dennison, D.M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Delta Dental of Illinois. "Record keeping is an important part of the dental profession, especially as it relates to patient care, and we are pleased to recognize promising future dentists who excel at this critical skill."

"We were very pleased that Dental Dental of Illinois increased their support of their student scholarships at the UIC College of Dentistry to $5,000," said Dr. Bruce Graham, Dean of the College. "With students being asked to shoulder an increasing financial burden every year, we are extremely grateful for generous benefactors such as Delta Dental, who understand the need for increasing private support of dental education. Delta Dental has been a tremendous partner to the College, and we truly appreciate the organization's involvement and positive impact it has on our program and on our students."

Delta Dental of Illinois is committed to improving access to oral health care in Illinois.  Ensuring there are quality dentists to offer patient care services in the state is an important part of this commitment. As such, Delta Dental of Illinois has long supported graduating dental students at the two dental schools in Illinois: the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, and the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.

Two years ago, the Delta Dental Award was expanded to include two recipients at each school, and this year, the amount of scholarship money given with each Delta Dental Award has nearly doubled.

Delta Dental of Illinois (DDIL) is a not-for-profit dental service corporation specializing in providing comprehensive, easy-to-use and cost-effective benefits to over one million employees and family members in more than 3,000 employee groups throughout Illinois. Based in Lisle, Ill., DDIL offers an array of extensive nationwide network-based managed fee-for-service, PPO and dental HMO plans.

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