2024 Year in Review: School of Dentistry
The School of Dentistry achieved another year of remarkable growth in 2024. We magnified our mission to provide exceptional oral care to Utah’s underserved communities and offer superior education for our future dentists in several ways:
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Established an Office of Research focused on improving community oral health.
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Further integrated oral care with general medical and mental health services.
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Developed a dental residency programs in various specialties.
Establishing the Office of Research
A decade of work went into creating the largest clinical network of any dental school in the country through a novel partnership with Medicaid. The result opened one of the largest at-risk and underserved patient pools. It also came with massive potential for population oral health research.
Under the guidance of Associate Dean for Research Brenda Heaton, PhD, the School of Dentistry Office of Research has done incredible work forging research collaborations within the disciplines of materials science, biomedical engineering, data science, imaging, and life sciences, just to name a few.
Heaton, a distinguished researcher in population oral health, was honored this year with the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research’s Sustaining Outstanding Achievements in Research (SOAR) Award. This award is granted to only one or two researchers each year—specifically, mid-career researchers with significant potential to improve population oral health through research. Accompanied by an $8 million grant over eight years, the award will support investigating the root causes of oral health inequities.
The School of Dentistry has already produced groundbreaking research into the positive effects of oral care on the lives of substance use disorder patients. The school is poised to break more ground in other areas that will help improve the health and well-being of countless individuals.
Integrating Oral Health with Community Care
Many studies show that with access to oral care, people tend to be healthier overall because oral health is linked to various medical conditions and comorbidities. A major strategic goal of the school is to make oral health a part of general medical and mental health care. We are one of the first dental schools in the nation to fully integrate our records into the EPIC system.
Our drive to expand services to Utah communities led us to help pioneer the innovative Population Health Center at Rose Park, in addition to the integrated care we provide at our South Main Clinic and Liberty Community Dental Clinic. We are also integrating oral care at the new West High School Clinic and at Huntsman Mental Health’s new Kem and Carolyn Gardner Crisis Care Center.
We also continue to expand and improve oral health services into rural communities in two ways.
First, we have grown our statewide Medicaid Associated Provider network to nearly every county in Utah. By recruiting capable, dedicated dentists through Medicaid, we help underserved rural communities access oral care.
Second, with support from the State of Utah, we have expanded our Mobile Dental Clinic service to more locations:
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Castle Dale
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Kanab
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Vernal
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Manti
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Logan
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Delta
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Moab
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Nephi
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Beaver
In partnership with regional health departments, the Mobile Dental Clinic program provides important oral care to rural residents who are under or near the federal poverty limit and do not have dental insurance.
Adding Specialty Residencies Means More Help for Patients
We are excited about laying the foundation for a premier educational experience by adding specialty residency programs to our general practice residency. Currently, Utah has a shortage of specialty dentists, and we hope these new specialty residency programs will help fill this important need for Utah’s communities.
We are in the process of developing a new three-year curriculum that will help residents progressively build their clinical and leadership skills. We’ve made significant strides in recruiting talented faculty across multiple specialties, including periodontology, endodontics, prosthodontics, and oral-maxillofacial surgery. These faculty members bring a wealth of experience and a passion for teaching. Their expertise will be essential in shaping the residency programs and mentoring the next generation of dental specialists.
Currently, we are focused on securing more clinical space, including integrated space to foster valuable teamwork across specialties and enhance opportunities for research. We anticipate the accreditation and launch of our specialty residency programs will begin in 2027.
Looking Ahead
The School of Dentistry’s mission is to care for the underserved while providing excellent education for our students and advancing overall health through oral health research. We look forward to furthering our work to fulfill that mission. We’ve worked hard to build the best community-based oral health clinical system in the nation and will continue to expand on the excellent care and education we provide in 2025 and beyond.
