Happy National Dental Hygienist week! The second week of every April, we celebrate the outstanding, dedicated, and selfless work dental hygienists do — inside and outside of clinical settings — to improve the oral health system.  ..read more

“Kira Johnson lost her life to the Black maternal health crisis not because she was unhealthy, uninsured, or unlucky, but because she was unheard,” said U.S. Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, who represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District.  ..read more

Carolina Family Health Centers, Inc. has provided medical and dental care for patients in three North Carolina counties for years. But during that time, the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) was having trouble accessing a specific part of the population that needed oral health care — children.  ..read more

Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) has existed for more than 20 years. But many oral health providers may be unfamiliar with why or how to use it.  ..read more

By Melissa Burroughs, Director, Public Policy, CareQuest Institute ..read more

By Andrea Clark, MS, Director, Health Care Economics, and Renee Clark, Care Coordination & Interoperability ManagerThe health care system in the United States is unique in many often-cited ways. It does not provide universal coverage, mixes publicly and privately funded insurances, and spends more on care per person than any other wealthy country ..read more

CareQuest Institute is always seeking new voices representing historically marginalized communities to advance oral health. Through its philanthropic work, it partners with grassroots and community-based organizations that represent and engage those who are most directly impacted by oral health inequities. On March 13, the Institute is opening two new requests for proposals, looking to fund projects and partner with organizations that are:  ..read more

A Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in southern California noticed an alarming statistic last year: Only about 22% of their pediatric medical patients were also going to their dental department. “We really wanted to promote the one-stop-shop, under-one-roof, collaborative care with the medical providers and really dig into why they weren’t seeking dental care at all or . . . were going elsewhere,” says Rebecca Cornille, DDS, the chief dental officer at ..read more

Early in his career, Bill Milner, DDS, MPH, realized that special populations — especially people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the elderly — are often left behind when it comes to accessing oral health care. “There has been a gap in services in dentistry that we knew back in the 1980s had to be filled,” says Milner. “Dentistry had no answer for folks that we now serve. We thought, ‘Why not provide the same quality care to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities or the elderly, who may not be able to afford it?’”  ..read more

Katanta Simwanza, DDS, knows what it’s like to not have access to oral health care. “Growing up, I was surrounded by a high prevalence of dental diseases within my community where oral health services were scarce,” Simwanza says. “I, and many other children and elders alike, personally experienced the pain of dental abscesses and oral health diseases.” These experiences growing up in Tanzania pointed him toward pursuing a career in health — specifically oral health.  ..read more