By Melissa Burroughs, Director, Public Policy, CareQuest Institute

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: 

From 2005 to 2020, the percentage of US dentists who identify as Black has stayed around 3.8%. 

“The stagnant nature of this percentage should give us all pause,” said Eleanor Fleming, PhD, DDS, MPH. “This disparity is why having conversations like this around Black dentists, Black workforce, and issues related to the Black community are important for those of us who work in oral health.” 

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. 

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?’”