Tribal Oral Health Webinars

• August 29, 2023-Hormones and Oral Health
• February 17,2023-National Children's Oral Health Month

Read more here about the dental therapy fix Congress must add to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act!

Resources and Publications

Indian Health Service (IHS) Oral Health Surveys

These oral health surveys provide baseline data on the oral health crisis in Indian Country. The surveys show an increase in oral health over the past two decades, but much work still remains to eliminate oral health disparities and poor outcomes in Tribal communities.

• The Oral Health of American Indian and Alaska Native Children Aged 1-5 Years: Results Of The 2018-19 IHS Oral Health Survey
• The Oral Health of American Indian and Alaska Native Children Aged 6-9 Years: Results of the 2016-2017 IHS Oral Health Survey
• The Oral Health of American Indian and Alaska Native Adult Dental Patients: Results of the 2015 IHS Oral Health Survey
• The Oral Health of 13-15 Year Old American Indian and Alaska Native Children (2014)
• The Oral Health of 6-9 Year Old American Indian and Alaska Native Children (2014)
• The Oral Health of American Indians and Alaska Native Children Aged 1-5 Years: Results of the 2014 IHS Oral Health Survey
• The 2010 Indian Health Service Oral Health Survey of American Indian and Alaska Native Preschool Children
• The 1999 Oral Health Survey of American Indian and Alaska Native Dental Patients: Findings, Regional Differences, and National Comparisons

Dental Therapy Publications

• Dental Utilization for Communities Served by Dental Therapists in Alaska’s Yukon Kuskokwim Delta: Findings from an Observational Quantitative Study. Donald Chi, DDS, PhD. University of Washington. August 2017.

  This study evaluated community‐level dental outcomes associated with dental therapists working in Alaska Native villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta from 2006-2015. The study found that the longer a dental therapist was in a community, the more preventative care was utilized and the fewer teeth were extracted.

• Expanding the Dental Team: Increasing Access to Care in Public Settings. Pew Charitable Trusts, June 2014.

  This study examined three nonprofit clinics tasked to increase access to dental care for the underserved to examine whether more people can be served in a cost-efficient way by using additional types of providers on the dental team. To examine this issue, Pew researchers conducted site visits; interviewed the dental team—dentists, dental therapists, and dental hygienists working in community settings—clinic directors, and patients; and reviewed practice utilization and financial records. In the Alaska setting in 2012, two dental therapists provided care to 1,352 patients, many of whom received regular access to dental care for the first time. When compared to the reimbursement value of the care they delivered, the therapists exceeded their costs of employment by a combined $216,000.

• The Dental Health Aide Therapist Program in Alaska: An Example for the 21st Century. Dane Lenaker, DMD, MPH. American Journal of Public Health, June 2017.

  In this article, Dane Lenaker, DMD, MPH, details his experiences working alongside a Dental Health Aide Therapist providing care to Alaska Native villages. He provides recommendations on how best to integrate dental therapists into an oral healthcare team.

• W.K. Kellogg Foundation Dental Therapy Resource Guide

  This online resource center on dental therapy serves as an educational hub for consumer health advocates, philanthropy, journalists, policymakers, health professionals, parents, students, colleges and universities, and libraries to learn about dental therapy and how it is changing the lives of children, their families and their communities. The Resource Guide holds an extensive library of articles, documents, infographics, interactive tools, interviews, podcasts, social media as sets and videos from organizations and experts across the country that showcase the opportunities and benefits of dental therapists to improving oral health.