G-2203-17367

The Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID) is a national non-profit membership organization of oral health professionals and students dedicated to promoting and improving the oral health of the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) community and providing advocacy for dental professionals from the community.

This grant, through the Executive Director’s Fund, is for support of SAID’s annual conference that brings together dental professionals and students for continuing education and networking opportunities for those working to improve oral health for the AI/AN community. This community has a high level of underrepresentation, with only 0.2% of active U.S. dentists identifying as AI/AN. The conference will be held in June in New Mexico, and SAID is requesting support for two components of the conference. First, SAID provides opportunities for dental students to attend at no-cost, and therefore is requesting $10,000 to support scholarships for students to attend. This comes out to $1,000 per student which includes airfare, hotel, meals, and conference registration and materials. Second, this is the first year that SAID is inviting non-dental providers, including doctors, nurses, and community health representatives, from primary care clinics to attend the conference. There will be a workshop that will address the need for additional knowledge and skills for providers to conduct dental screening and oral health promotion. SAID is requesting $10,000 to support sponsorship of this session to allow this workshop to be at no-cost to participants.