Director of Oral Health Programs Tennessee Department of Health
Disclosure(s):
Laura Johnson, B.S.: No financial relationships to disclose
Description: Hiring dental professionals is a task met with difficulty across the United States and Tennessee is no exception. In an effort to address this problem head on, with support from the Governor, the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) pulled together a working group of stakeholders to improve dental access across Tennessee. From this collaboration, the Healthy Smiles Initiative was born. The Healthy Smiles Initiative includes $12 million of initial funding with a potential of almost $94 million of total funding over the course of the five-year plan. This creates an opportunity to build a strong partnership with two dental colleges, and potentially a third, to expand dental training. Multiple public health departments across the state are equipped for standard dental practice but have no dentist. This initiative places dental residents, students, and faculty in unstaffed or understaffed public health department dental clinic locations. Training for dental students and placement of residents in these settings will provide immediate services as well as on-the-ground experience in treating these populations for students and residents, with the expectation that many of them will subsequently practice in those areas.
