ADA dental health coordinator project expands

The ADA announced the opening of a fourth education and training site for students in its Community Dental Health Coordinator (CDHC) pilot project at the A.T. Still University Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health (ASDOH) Mesa, AZ, campus.

The program will host cohort 3 CDHC students -- the final class in the CDHC pilot project -- who are training to work in American Indian communities.

The CDHC pilot project will create a new dental team member trained to improve the oral health of people who, for economic, geographic, or cultural reasons, lack access to regular dental care, the ADA said.

In their initial phase of training, students complete 12 months of online coursework administered by Rio Salado College in Tempe, AZ. Upon successfully completing the didactic portion of their training, the students begin six-month internships.

Temple University's Kornberg School of Dentistry trains students to work in inner cities; the University of Oklahoma trains students to serve in remote rural areas. UCLA School of Dentistry hosted the first two cohorts of students training to work in American Indian communities. Students in cohort 1 completed their coursework in fall 2010. Cohort 2 students, also training at UCLA, will complete their training in fall 2011. The third cohort of students in the American Indian track, who will train in conjunction with ASDOH, will enter the program this month.

ASDOH's Dentistry in the Community program provides services in Apache, Hopi, and other American Indian areas in Arizona and New Mexico. The school has the nation's largest contingent of tribally enrolled American Indian Dental students and boasts a 100 percent graduation rate for those students. All of ASDOH's American Indian graduates practice in American Indian communities.