The recent celebration of National Dentist’s Day earlier this month prompts me to focus on the indispensable role of dentists in our overall health.
One of the reasons that dentists are invaluable contributors to our health care teams is that part of the rigorous training they undergo to earn either their Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD), depending on the dental school they attend, is to detect early symptoms of a variety of health conditions. These can include oral cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases. They are on the front line of disease detection because of their training and because they often see their patients more times a year than their patients see their primary care physicians.
As you can imagine, in our role of administering the dental benefits of over 1.1 million people in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, one of our biggest assets is our network of 1,935 dentists — the largest dentist network in the region. Even so, there’s a shortage of dentists in our three states, especially in rural areas. One of Northeast Delta Dental’s giving priorities is to support programs increasing access to trained dental professionals by addressing these shortages in several ways.
One of the initiatives we’ve supported recently is a unique program at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Its Advanced Education in General Dentistry – Rural Track (AEGD) is a 12-month postdoctoral program preparing dentists to deliver care in underserved rural communities across New Hampshire. We also fund dental loan repayment programs and scholarships to help dentists with the costs of their education and to encourage them to practice in Northern New England.
While our giving is largely aimed at making more dentists available in our three states, the dentist shortage is one of our nation’s public health challenges. An estimated 24 million Americans live in regions designated as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. Along with other Delta Dental member companies, we contribute to the Delta Dental Future Workforce Fund to award grants to programs exposing students to oral health career possibilities early in their educational experiences. By funding programs designed to attract students to dentistry, the Delta Dental network has communicated to more than 71,000 students, educators and community members in 44 states since its 2023 launch underscoring the message that a career in dentistry is an attractive and impactful career choice.
Earlier this year, the Delta Dental Institute released “The Pathway Effect: A Guide to Strengthening the Oral Health Workforce Through Early Exposure Programs,” a white paper highlighting the urgent need to address workforce shortages and grow the oral health profession. It drew from what it learned from the organizations receiving workforce funds and outlined actionable and sustainable strategies for strengthening the dentist workforce. The 2025 Workforce Fund awardees were American Dental Education Association, American Dental Hygienists’ Association, Hispanic Dental Association, Mentorships in Dentistry and Society of American Indian Dentists.
If you’re interested in learning more about the funding we’ve provided to programs training dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants, you can find that information in our annual reports.
March is a month for expressing appreciation for our dentists, champions of our oral health and vital to our achieving and maintaining our optimal overall health.
