Delta Dental of California, Delta Dental Insurance Company, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and affiliates
Delta Dental of California, Delta Dental Insurance Company, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and affiliates
Delta Dental language and cultural assistance
Cultural competency
It's important for a dental practice to be culturally aware to better serve patients from all walks of life.
Share this free cultural competency slide deck with your office staff to help strengthen their ability to work with and help people with different backgrounds and experiences.
Blog posts
Brush up on cultural competency by reading our latest FYI blog posts on the topic.
How to become a more culturally competent dental practice
It can be easy to think that most people you interact with have a background similar to your own. But when it comes to practicing dentistry, making these sorts of assumptions and judgements can actually restrict your ability to successfully treat your current patients or even to grow your patient base.
In dentistry, diversity matters
The minority population of the United States is growing — the U.S. census put it at nearly 40% in 2019. Despite this, ethnic and racial disparity persists within the dental industry, both in terms of who receives care and who provides it.
Are you on your patient's wavelength?
Each patient visit is an opportunity to build trust in your care. Being culturally aware enables you to communicate clearly and understandably with patients, no matter their ethnic or cultural backgrounds. One-to-one communication with patients at their levels shows respect and can increase cooperation in their treatment.
More cultural competency resources
Language assistance
Communicating clearly and accurately is essential to quality health care. Demonstrate your commitment to patients by incorporating cultural understanding into your practice.
If you discover a language barrier, call Delta Dental. We will arrange for a qualified interpreter to help you communicate with your patient in any language at no cost.
If possible, dentists and/or office staff may speak with limited-English proficient patients in the patients’ preferred languages. However, you are encouraged to call Delta Dental first. Clear and accurate health information is essential to the delivery of quality health care. Interpretation through a trained and certified interpreter is preferable to interpretation through friends or family, to ensure clarity and accuracy.
Delta Dental’s Language Assistance Program (LAP) provides language assistance to enrollees with limited proficiency in English.
LAP services include:
- Delta Dental website in Spanish
- Customer Service phone assistance in more than 170 languages
- Face-to-face interpreter services at your office, including American Sign Language (ASL)
- Document translation in non-English languages
- Dentist directories that include the self-reported languages of contracted dentists and staff who speak languages other than English
If you are a Delta Dental contracting dentist in California, you have specific obligations under California law. To learn more about your obligations, visit our legal notices page.
Delta Dental telephone numbers for interpreter services:
- Delta Dental Premier® Delta Dental PPO™: 800-765-6003
- DeltaCare® USA: 800-422-4234
- DeltaVision®: 866-774-5595 (providers) or 800-422-4234 (enrollees)
- TTY 711
Delta Dental can also arrange on-site interpretation at the dental office location. To arrange face-to-face interpreter services, call Delta Dental’s customer service department at least 72 hours in advance of the appointment time.
Print a copy of our printer-friendly English-Spanish phrase guide for easy access.