Collaborating to expand patient access to dental care in Alabama
The obstacles. Alabama is one of only a few states that lack dental coverage, including emergency care, for adults under Medicaid. This greatly impacts low-income adults, many of whom reside in inner-city areas and rural communities. Additionally, one of the greatest barriers to dental care access is the scarcity of preventive dental care programs and the limited number of dentists available in pockets around the state, particularly in rural areas.
Alabama dental care resources and accessibility interactive map
Ours is a holistic approach. By collaborating with public and private entities in the Greater Birmingham area and across the state, we can greatly improve the overall oral health outcomes for Alabama's most vulnerable. Through partnerships and initiatives such as those featured below, we provide oral health education and screenings and primary, secondary, and tertiary care to underserved populations. Combining education and outreach, we aim to not only produce skilled oral health professionals but also to create healthier, more resilient communities that understand and value the importance of good oral health.
Initiatives
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UAB Dentistry - Dothan
UAB Dentistry - Dothan, a satellite clinic operated by UAB School of Dentistry, is focused on improving the dental health of those living in the Wiregrass region. With eight exam chairs and the capacity to conduct more than 10,000 patient visits annually, the clinic is staffed by UAB School of Dentistry faculty and staff, with the planned addition of dental students. One of its aims will be to identify, recruit and prepare the next generation of dentists committed to practicing in rural Alabama, alleviating some of the burden caused by the rural dentistry shortage across the state.
Critical to the project is a $3.4 million appropriation from the state of Alabama to develop this first-of-its-kind model. The school is grateful for the support of The University of Alabama System and the help of our state and local leaders and our generous supporters as we work to bring world-class dental care to the Wiregrass region. -
Training Future Dentists to Care for Alabama's Underserved Children
UAB’s Pediatric Dentistry HRSA grant, “Training Future Dentists to Care for Alabama’s Underserved Children from 0-5 Years of Age,” enhances clinical pediatric training for D.M.D students through didactic courses, interprofessional simulation training, and live patient clinical experiences. This is in collaboration with three community-based training sites, including a dental and Women Infant Children (WIC) clinic in a county public health department, a primary care FQHC in rural Alabama, and a center at UAB providing care to children and adults with disabilities. These sites provide undergraduate dental students experience in treating young children from minority, rural and developmentally disabled populations. This targeted training will better prepare students to practice in Alabama, where 41% of the population is rural, 27% of children live below the poverty level and all but two counties in the State are designated a Dental Health Professional Shortage Area (DHPSA)./p>
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Oral Health Training, Screening and Treatment
We have incorporated multi-disciplinary oral health training, screening, and treatment coordination within our prevention activities and have developed an interprofessional training program between the UAB Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Optometry, and Health Professions. This partnership remains strong and the enriching interprofessional activities continue each year.
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Delivering Care in Talladega and Tuscaloosa Counties
We have cooperative agreements with the Alabama Institute for the Deaf & Blind in Talladega, AL and with the Alabama Department of Public Health which supports the provision of services in Tuscaloosa County Health Department’s dental clinic. This provides coverage for an attending dentist and a resident to travel/deliver dental care to patients one day per week at each site.
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Special Needs Patients
The UAB Civitan-Sparks Clinics provide care for individuals with special needs and disabilities which include Autism, CP, Downs Syndrome, Epilepsy, intellectual and sensory disabilities and other developmental conditions. We provide dental services to patients with special needs at the Sparks Center Dental Clinic and through the Children's Rehabilitation Services of Alabama. We also serve as a referral source for dental care to children and adults with developmental disabilities from area group homes.
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Medically Compromised Patients
Consultation and dental services for severely medically compromised inpatients at University Hospital are provided through our Hospital Dental Residency Program. Prosthodontic dental services for those with brain and spinal cord injuries and loss of facial parts due to trauma or cancer are provided through Spain Rehabilitation.
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Student Rotations
Complementing their work in the general dentistry and specialty clinics within the School of Dentistry, our third- and fourth-year dental students have real world opportunities to serve communities across the state, thereby broadening their clinical experiences, through shifts at appropriate healthcare sites. Learn about our growing list of external and voluntary SEARCH rotations.
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Community Outreach Events
Throughout the year, third- and fourth-year dental students have the opportunity to participate in school led community outreach events. These include Alabama Department of Senior Services (ADSS) Geriatric Events (D3 and D4 students), Sight Savers Events (D3 and D4 students) held in various schools and YWCA facilities, and SOD Cares activities (D4 students) through the Limited Care Clinic.
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Volunteer Outreach
Our faculty, staff, residents, and students spend hundreds of hours each year serving the communities surrounding Birmingham, as well as neighboring counties and the State of Alabama. They support UAB Benevolent Fund activities and partner with community organizations to perform oral health screenings, health services delivery, and oral health education. These include Cahaba Valley Healthcare, a non-profit organization that targets the healthcare needs of Central Alabama’s Hispanic and low-income communities, and First Light Shelter, a non-profit that provides a safe place for homeless women and children in the Birmingham area. We also work in partnership with Alabama Department of Senior Services, and Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, United Way of West Alabama (Success by 6 program), Alabama’s Kid Check and Sight Savers of America, Equal Access Birmingham, and Special Olympics, to name a few. Our student organizations lead many outreach activities. For instance, UAB's American Student Dental Association (ASDA) chapter sponsors programs like Miles for Smiles, Give Kids a Smile, and screenings for those experiencing homelessness.
Addressing Alabama's dental workforce needs
One of the aims of UAB Dentistry – Dothan will be to identify, recruit and prepare the next generation of dentists committed to practicing in rural Alabama, alleviating some of the burden caused by the rural dentistry shortage across the state. In addition, UAB School of Dentistry is working to forge key partnerships to build a portfolio of programs to address Alabama’s dental workforce needs. These programs include:
Community Rotations
Complementing their work in general dentistry and specialty clinics within the School of Dentistry, our third- and fourth-year dental students have opportunities to serve communities across the state, thereby broadening their clinical experiences and exposing them to the myriad of opportunities in dentistry, through shifts at appropriate healthcare sites.
Rural Dental Scholar Program
The Rural Dental Scholar Program helps scholars build a strong biomedical science foundation and become educated about issues in rural health. This program begins with a one-year Rural Health Master’s program delivered by UA CCHS in Tuscaloosa, AL. During the year, students engage in biomedical science courses designed to adequately prepare scholars for a rigorous dental school curriculum.
Board of Dental Scholarships
The Board of Dental scholarships considers candidates for an upfront award in return for at least four years of service in an Alabama small town/rural community in need of a dental professional.
In a recently released peer-reviewed scientific publication the “National Dental Practice-Based Research Network” recently demonstrated sustained world-class scientific productivity for all the world to see.
Led by UAB via its national Administrative and Resource Center, the network has regional and specialty nodes based in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, New York and Texas. A Network Coordinating Center is based in Oregon. Since its inception in 2005, a total of 58 studies have been completed or are in data collection or development by the network. These studies have investigated a broad range of clinical topics using a wide variety of study designs. Peer-reviewed scientific journal articles from these studies have appeared in 62 different journal titles. Of the studies that have completed enrollment, a total of 70,665 patients and 19,827 practitioners were enrolled, as well as electronic records for an additional 790,493 patients in two data-only studies.
Scientists often measure the impact of their work by documenting the number of times their work is cited by other scientists, and sometimes by using the “impact factor” of the journal in which they publish a research article. The limitations of these measures led the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop in 2016 the “Relative Citation Ratio (RCR)” to quantify the influence of a research article. The key advantage is that the RCR is at the level of the individual article and importantly, is independent of the scientific field. To facilitate its public use, a NIH PubMed “iCite” site was established to facilitate easy calculations [https://icite.od.nih.gov/analysis].
The graphs below show results from an iCite analysis done in March 2022 of the network’s 167 peer-reviewed scientific publications from 2006-2021. With an average RCR of 1.40, the overall body of work significantly exceeded the average publication in the PubMed database. The network team also compared the percentile ranking of the 167 network publications to all of the publications in the PubMed database; nine of the 167 publications ranked above the 90th percentile and 15 articles ranked between the 80th and 90th percentiles. Dr. Gregg Gilbert, Distinguished Professor in the School of Dentistry and National Network Director, explained that “this is especially noteworthy because the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network intentionally balances its interest in communicating with a clinical audience (its main mission), with its desire to maintain a strong scientific credibility.” Consequently, the network decides on many occasions to target a particular scientific journal because it has a heavily clinical readership, even though that clinical journal’s “impact factor” is not as high as other target journals that would accept the manuscript for publication.
a Gilbert GH, Fellows JL, Allareddy V, Cochran DL, Cunha-Cruz J, Gordan VV, McBurnie MA, Meyerowitz C, Mungia R, Rindal DB, National Dental PBRN Collaborative Group. Structure, Function, and Productivity from the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science 2022; in press. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2022.421
Complementing their work in general dentistry and specialty clinics within the School of Dentistry, our third and fourth year dental students have opportunities to serve communities across the state, thereby broadening their clinical experiences, through shifts at appropriate healthcare sites.
External Rotations (D3 & D4 Students/Fall and Spring)
All third and fourth year dental students rotate through a variety of external sites as part of their clinical assignments.
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Pinson DentaQuest Dental Clinic
Pinson DentaQuest Dental Clinic is a new non-profit dental program partner in Pinson, AL, about a 40 minute drive from UAB. The site offers third and fourth year students a pediatric dentistry focused experience.
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Cahaba Valley Health Care Dental Clinic
Cahaba Valley Health Care Dental Clinic will start serving as an external clinical rotation site for third and fourth year dental students beginning in July 2019. This site serves low-income patients of Jefferson County and will provide students with an emergent and primary care focused experience.
Elective SEARCH Rotations (D4 Students/Spring Semester)
Through our SEARCH Program (Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health), fourth year dental students who are finishing their requirements can volunteer for service at a number of regional external, community-based rotation sites. This gives them the opportunity to view dentistry within a community setting, serving patient populations that they may not be familiar with and giving them an even broader view of the world.
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Quality of Life Health Complex
Quality of Life Health Complex is located in Gadsden, Alabama. With a number of dentists and hygienists at this site, services include routine dental exams, extractions, fillings, cleanings, teeth bleaching, treatment for abscessed teeth, treatment for tooth decay, treatment for gum disease, and x-rays.
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Franklin Primary Health Center
A multi-site center, Franklin Primary Health Center enables citizens to receive top-quality, affordable health care. The newest location, in Mobile's new Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center, is a 40,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art medical complex that houses a wide variety of primary health specialties to the underserved and the underinsured citizens of Mobile County.
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Maude Whatley Dental Clinic
Maude Whatley Dental Clinic in Tuscaloosa is an ultramodern, 18-exam-room primary-care facility. Services include pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine, X-ray, laboratory, pharmacy, social services, nutrition, parenting classes, and dental care.
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Poarch Band-Creek Indians Health Department Dental Clinic
Located in Atmore and built in 2004 along a major corridor running through Alabama, Poarch Band-Creek Indians Health Department Dental Clinic is unique in the cutting-edge preventive work and collaborations with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. This facility provides oral surgery and pediatric dental care.
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River Region Health Center
River Region Health Center houses medical and medical clinic operations. Dental care is provided in five treatment rooms by several dentists and hygienists.
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HEALS Dental Clinic
HEALS Dental Clinic is a school-based pediatric dental facility located in Huntsville, Alabama. It operates through the voluntary efforts of local pediatric dentists and accepts fourth year student volunteers in the second semester of their senior year.
Improving Oral Health Outcomes
In addition to community rotations, volunteer outreach, and hosting the National Dental Practice Based Research Network (NDPBRN), UAB School of Dentistry advances oral health through a number of local, community-based, and global initiatives. Often partnering with UAB Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Optometry, Public Health, and the Health Professions, we are also active in a variety of oral health coalitions whose purpose is to improve oral health outcomes for the citizens of the Birmingham area and all of Alabama -- and beyond.
Community-Based Grants, Contracts, and Partnerships
UAB School of Dentistry has a number of community-based grants, contracts, and partnerships that enhance our state and local outreach. Examples of these outreach activities include:
- Training Future Dentists to Care for Alabama's Underserved Children. UAB’s Pediatric Dentistry HRSA funding, “Training Future Dentists to Care for Alabama’s Underserved Children from 0-5 Years of Age,” enhances clinical pediatric predoctoral dental training for children 0-5 years of age through didactic courses, interprofessional simulation training, and live patient clinical experiences. collaboration with three community-based training sites, including a dental and Women Infant Children (WIC) clinic in a county public health department, a primary care FQHC in rural Alabama, and a center at UAB providing care to children and adults with disabilities. These sites provide undergraduate dental students experience in treating young children from minority, rural and developmentally disabled populations. This targeted training will better prepare students to practice in Alabama, where 41% of the population is rural, 27% of children live below the poverty level and all but two counties in the State are designated a Dental Health Professional Shortage Area (DHPSA).
- Oral Health Training, Screening and Treatment. We have incorporated multi-disciplinary oral health training, screening, and treatement coordination within our prevention activities and have developed an interprofessional training program between the UAB Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Optometry, and Health Professions. This partnership remains strong and the enriching interprofessional activiteis continue each year.
- Delivering Care in Talladega and Tuscaloosa Counties. We have agreements with the Alabama Institute for the Deaf & Blind in Talladega, AL and with the Alabama Department of Public Health, which supports the provision of services in Tuscaloosa County Health Department’s dental clinic, providing coverage for an attending dentist and resident to travel/deliver dental care to patients one day per week at each site.
- Enhancing Alabama's Oral Health Workforce. UAB School of Dentistry (SOD) entered into a partnership with the Alabama Dental Association (ALDA) to provide incentive funding to recently graduated dentists willing to locate in a rural or underserved areas of the state,provide dental treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries, and maintain practice in such locations for at least 4 year. This UAB SOD/ALDA partnership has resulted in positive outcomes at the state level, with funding having been allocated to support this program. Its main objective is to entice young dentists to practice in small communities to insure that access to dental care will contine to be available in rural Alabama in the future as a result of the state legislature, organized dentistry, and UAB School of Dentistry.
UAB School of Dentistry is also involved in other areas of service in primary, secondary, and tertiary care. These include:
- Special Needs Patients: We provide dental services to patients with special needs at the Sparks Center Dental Clinic and through the Children's Rehabilitation Services of Alabama. We also serve as a referral source for dental care to children and adults with developmental disabilities from area group homes.
- Medically Compromised Patients: Consultation and dental services for severely medically compromised inpatients at University Hospital are provided through our Hospital Dental Residency Program. Prosthodontic dental services for those with brain and spinal cord injuries and loss of facial parts due to trauma or cancer are provided through Spain Rehabilitation.
Global Outreach Through International Ties
Our faculty serve on the UAB International Education Committee and the Global and Community Health Outreach project in collaboration with the UAB School of Public Health. In addition, UAB School of Dentistry has affiliation agreements with six dental schools in other countries to provide collaboration in education. There are active student exchange/visiting programs with two universities in Japan and one in France. Various groups within the school also participate in service and teaching by providing dental care to children and adults in developing countries.
Our faculty, residents, students, and staff spend hundreds of hours each year serving the communities surrounding Birmingham, as well as neighboring counties and the State of Alabama, by performing oral health screenings, health services delivery, and oral health education. In addition to our involvement in local and regional activities and supporting/ hosting health promotion events, our robust community outreach takes shape through campus collaborations and community partnerships, as well as student-led outreach.
Community Partnerships
Our employees, residents and students are encouraged to support, promote, and sustain the efforts of partnering organizations throughout the community.
Examples of community partners include Cahaba Valley Healthcare, a non-profit organization that targets the healthcare needs of Central Alabama’s Hispanic and low-income communities and First Light Shelter, a non-profit that provides a safe place for homeless women and children in the Birmingham area. We also have partnerships with YWCA of Birmingham, United Way of West Alabama (Success by 6 program), Alabama’s Kid Check and Sight Savers of America, Equal Access Birmingham, Special Olympics, Alabama Department of Senior Services, and Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services.
Our volunteers also participate in events like Project Homeless Connect and Operation Help and Hope which help homeless individuals access needed services and provide ways to break the homelessness cycle. The events connect those experiencing homelessness with opportunities in housing, identifying sources of dental and medical care, and other community services.
Student-Led Outreach
Our Impressions and Dental Immersion Day programs, sponsored by the UAB chapters of Student National Dental Association (SNDA) and the Hispanic Student Dental Association (HSDA), are designed to connect pre-health college-level and high stchool students with a career in dentistry. The programs allow young students to explore and participate in dental lectures and pre-clinical activities, andsupport those attendees who are interested in oral health and dental careers. UAB's American Student Dental Association (ASDA) sponsors outreach programs including Miles for Smiles, Give Kids a Smile, and screenings for those experiencing homelessness. Learn more about ways our students connect with diverse communities through student activities.
The Nation's Network
Founded at UAB, the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network is a consortium of participating dental practices and organizations that conduct practice-based research. Essentially, it is “practical science” done for the benefit of “real world” clinical practices. The network builds upon clinicians’ observations from their own practices, gets them engaged in discussions with other practitioners about scientific approaches, and then establishes scientific consensus that is clinically meaningful and relevant to patient treatment. Their work expedites the application of scientific discoveries into routine, everyday clinical practice.
UAB School of Dentistry is home to the network's national administrative base. The National Network Director is Dr. Gregg Gilbert. The network comprises practices from six United States regions. In addition to the Birmingham location are hubs in Rochester, New York; Gainesville, Florida; Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Antonio, Texas; and Portland, Oregon.
The major source of funding for the nation's network is the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
At UAB School of Dentistry, we are dedicated making a meaningful impact in Alabama and beyond. As a dental school, our primary mission is to train the next generation of dentists and other oral health professionals. However, we believe that our responsibility extends beyond the walls of our classrooms and clinics. We are deeply rooted in the community, understanding the importance of oral health in overall well-being. Our story is one of compassion, collaboration, and community engagement in our commitment to transforming oral health for all.
Collaborating to expand patient access to dental care in Alabama
We have developed partnerships with a wide variety of health- and dental-care partners to provide outreach across the state. Our students, under the guidance of experienced faculty, offer screenings, preventative care, and treatment to those who may not have access to regular dental services. Together, these cooperative ventures provide opportunities for our students to work with diverse patient populations, while extending access to dental care to Alabama’s underserved.
Addressing Alabama’s dental workforce needs
UAB School of Dentistry has developed a portfolio of programs that place dentists and students supervised by dentists, in facilities around the state. These initiatives alleviate some of the burden caused by the rural dentistry shortage.
Leading practice science for the benefit of real-world clinical practices
Established at UAB School of Dentistry, the National Dental Practice Based Research Network (PBRN) is a consortium of clinicians and practices throughout the nation who are working together to answer community-based oral health care questions and translate research findings into practice. UAB is home to the network's national administrative base.
Global outreach through international ties
Our faculty serve on the UAB International Education Committee and the Global and Community Health Outreach project in collaboration with the UAB School of Public Health. Also, the school has affiliation agreements with six dental schools in other countries to provide collaboration in education. There are active student exchange/visiting programs with two universities in Japan and one in France. Various groups within the school also participate in service and teaching by providing dental care to children and adults in developing countries.
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Contact Us
Dr. Gregg Gilbert
Chair, Department of Clinical and Community Sciences
SDB 109
(205) 934-5423
Dr. Raquel Mazer
Associate Professor, Department of Clinical and Community Sciences
SDB 115
(205) 996-2724
Nancy Parsons
Administrative Projects Specialist-SOD
SBD 111
(205) 934-5423