BACKGROUND
Access to oral health services remains one of the greatest unmet health needs for children and low-income adults, causing millions of lost hours of school and work. Gaps in the dental workforce leave many rural, urban and tribal communities without adequate access to care. Geographic isolation, language barriers, and the lack of dentists, familiarity with the special needs of some members of the population, such as the lack of economic stability, adequate insurance, consistent and continuous dentist/patient relationships, health literacy, culturally appropriate care, and trust, can all lead to gross inequities in the oral health care delivery system.
These inequities can result in poor school and work performance and impede employment. They also can diminish overall health contributing to adverse pregnancy outcomes, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even death. Past attempts to address access have lacked an understanding of the above stated issues while others have made small inroads but have lacked resources.
MISSION
To support and promote evidence-based, high quality, and cost-effective oral health services, including disease prevention, treatment and care delivery-models, specifically innovative workforce models demonstrated to address disparities of access.
PURPOSE
To unite dentists who support evidence-based practices in the U.S. as a means to advance the goal of comprehensive health equity with a specific interest in oral health equity.
VISION
All persons in the U.S. regardless of age, race, income, gender, geographic isolation, and abilities shall have access to affordable, culturally appropriate, primary care including oral disease prevention and treatment services.
Board Members
Caswell Evans, Jr., DDS, MPH - President
Dr. Caswell Evans Jr. recently retired from his position as the Associate Dean for Prevention and Public Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) College of Dentistry. He also served as the Executive Editor and Project Director for Oral Health in America: A Report of the U.S. Surgeon General. Dr. Evans was previously the Director of Public Health Programs and Services for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Prior to that, he was director of the King County Division of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. Dr. Evans is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences and is currently co-chair of its Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education. He is a past president of the American Public Health Association, the American Association of Public Health Dentistry and the American Board of Dental Public Health. Dr. Evans is President of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and Chairman of the DentaQuest Foundation’s Board. He also serves on the Chicago Board of Health and the board of the Children’s Dental Health Project.
Skip Collins, DMD, MPH - Secretary
Bio coming soon
Lawrence Hill, DDS, MPH - Past President
Dr Lawrence Hill did his undergraduate training at The Ohio State University, attended dental school at Case Western Reserve University and received his MPH from the University of Minnesota. He served as dental director for the Cincinnati Health Department for 30 years and was the volunteer executive director of a United Way funded dental agency for 24 years. During that time, he was largely responsible for the implementation of water fluoridation to the benefit of more than 2 million residents. In peak years the programs in southwest Ohio provided dental disease prevention and treatment services for more than 40,000 children and adults. He established one of the largest dental clinics in the country that was devoted to providing dental care to homeless children and adults. In the 1980’s Dr Hill spearheaded the creation of one of the first school based disease prevention dental sealant programs and co-authored an operations manual which has been used by more than 200 communities across the country. He was responsible for the integration of oral health services in Cincinnati’s school based health centers. He currently serves as executive director of the American Association for Community Dental Programs and the president of the National Coalition of Dentists for Health Equity. He has served on numerous state and national workgroups including those that developed oral health objectives for the Healthy People publications and has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work. Dr Hill has devoted his career to improving oral health equity in a healthcare policy environment that has relegated oral health to a position of secondary importance, adversely impacting the overall health of vulnerable populations.
Cheyenne Warren, DDS, MS - Vice President
Dr. Cheyanne Warren is the Dental Therapy Program Director at Skagit Valley College. She was born and raised in Vermont and completed all of her undergraduate and post-graduate at Skagit Valley College. She was born and raised in Vermont and completed all of her undergraduate and post-graduate education in Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University (JMU), a Master’s in Biochemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), followed by her dental degree from VCU. After completing her Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residency at VCU, she and her husband returned to Vermont to begin practicing general dentistry. Dr. Warren began her clinical career at a community health center in Plainfield, Vermont where she had the opportunity to supervise and mentor General Practice Residency (GPR) students. Simultaneously, she began supervising dental hygiene students at Vermont Technical College (the only dental education program in the state of Vermont) as they performed clinical procedures. In May of 2017, Dr. Warren transitioned from practicing general dentistry and became the Dental Therapy Program Director at Vermont Technical College (VTC). In her capacity as the Dental Therapy Program Director at VTC, she was tasked with creating a CODA accredited hygiene-based dental therapy curriculum for the State. While at VTC, Dr. Warren began supervising dental externs from the University of New England School of Dentistry to prepare for the dental therapy clinical education, expand community access to care, and increased the intraprofessional collaboration between all oral health providers. Dr. Warren values community service and has volunteered in dental service projects including Mission of Mercy in Virginia, provided care at a free dental clinic in Charlottesville, VA and Internationally with Hands for Honduras before the pandemic shut down in 2020. She also served on the Vermont Oral Health Collation, is currently on the executive committee of the National Collation of Dentists for Health Equity and is passionate about increasing quality oral health access. Her research background has solidified a firm belief that sound evidence should dictate oral health practice across all providers. Dr. Warren and her family look forward to moving to Washington State to join the incredible community that surrounds Skagit Valley. In her spare time, you will find her enjoying and exploring the great outdoors while running, skiing, hiking, biking and fly fishing. Dr. Warren is committed to ensuring our students are prepared to provide exceptional oral healthcare in their communities and further develop this incredible educational model in order to expand access to oral health further then we thought possible.
Esther Lopez, DDS, MPH - Treasurer
Dr. Lopez is highly focused on public health. She was the key student at UIC involved in establishing the weekend “student run clinic” at Goldie’s Place. After graduation, she served as dental director for Goldie’s Place. She currently has a private practice in Oak Park that is welcoming to Medicaid sponsored patients. She was also on a three-person advisory group for the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) in Chicago and was in the forefront of its efforts to establish a dental/oral health service within its health systems as well as providing advice regarding IMAN’s interest in applying for FQHC status.