Rural Communities
ROOTED: Rural Oral Health Outreach, Training, and Education in Dentistry
ROOTED is a national initiative that builds a sustainable, community-driven oral health workforce in rural America. The program supports predoctoral students, practicing clinicians, and oral health professionals through applied learning experiences, reinforcing rural identity as a professional asset and ensuring long-term access to dental care in underserved areas.
ROOTED addresses critical oral health workforce shortages by preparing the future and current oral health workforce to thrive in rural practice settings. Through culturally relevant, asset-based programming, ROOTED helps participants understand the unique strengths and challenges of rural communities and equips them with tools to lead, serve, and innovate.
ROOTED Seminar Series (Formerly ECHO)
Formerly the Rural Oral Health Project ECHO, the ROOTED Seminar Series is a virtual learning and collaboration space designed to build the capacity of oral health professionals who serve or support rural communities. Originally launched in 2020 under the nationally recognized Project ECHO® telementoring model, the series continues to follow a peer-to-peer, “all-teach, all-learn” approach that centers rural expertise, lived experience, and innovative care delivery.
Each session brings together a diverse group of clinicians, public health professionals, and thought leaders for dynamic, real-time discussions that explore the challenges and opportunities of rural oral health systems.
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Expert Presentation: An exploration of rural topics from a subject matter expert (e.g., trauma-informed care, Medicaid navigation, teledentistry, workforce solutions).
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Interactive Q&A: An open forum for participants to ask questions, share perspectives, and problem-solve collectively.
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Applied Learning: A collaborative discussion that invites participants to reflect, ideate, and bring back actionable strategies to their own communities.
2025 ROOTED Series: Navigating Rural and Tribal Oral Health Solutions
April 25: Community Engagement with an Asset-Based Approach for Rural Oral Health Equity
This first session features Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Oral Health Association and AIDPH Board member. who will delve into an asset-based approach to community engagement for rural oral health access and equity. Alan, recognized as one of the top 100 most influential people in healthcare by Modern Healthcare Magazine, shared an asset-based approach to community engagement for rural oral health access and equity. Watch the recording to hear from this expert with over 33 years of experience in health policy at both state and federal levels!
Download the case recommendations.
June 27: Increasing Oral Health Access Through Innovative Programs
June 27, 2024 | 1:00 pm CT
During the second Rural Oral Health session of 2024, Monica McKee, MPH, BSDH, RDH, Vice President of Allied Services at the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, presented on the unique concept of Integrated Dental Hygiene (I-RDH) and how the Clinic uses their I-RDH’s to enhance medical-dental integration and improve health outcomes. Through the didactic presentation and community discussion during this session, attendees gained insights into the role of I-RDHs in addressing oral health disparities and promoting oral-systemic health integration. Join us to explore the potential of integrated dental hygiene in fostering health equity and advancing oral healthcare delivery in rural communities.
August 29: Building a Diverse and Equitable Oral Health Workforce
The third session of our Rural Oral Health series featured Dr. Miranda Davis, a leading expert in dental public health, as she presented a seminar on Building a Diverse and Equitable Oral Health Workforce. With over 17 years of experience serving Tribal communities, Dr. Davis shared lessons from the successful Community Health Aide Program (CHAP) and its impact on expanding access to high-quality dental care. This session highlighted how CHAP’s innovative approach provides culturally responsive education, training, and certification for Dental Health Aides, creating new career pathways and bridging care gaps in underserved communities. Participants will be eligible for one free CEU while gaining valuable knowledge to support the development of an inclusive and effective oral health workforce.
November 14: Community Engaged Data Collection for Oral Health Justice
Featuring Dr. Gina Thornton-Evans, Director of the Division of Oral Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, our fourth Rural Oral Health seminar examined the role of community engagement and health justice in guiding data collection practices in oral health. Dr. Thornton-Evans shared insights from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), offering participants an in-depth perspective on how health justice principles can shape equitable data collection processes that more accurately reflect diverse community needs. This session encouraged critical dialogue through a structured, interactive discussion, empowering participants to consider how to implement these approaches in their professional settings and how the data collected through NHANES is essential to advancing dental public health.
December 5: Rural Oral Health and Disability Communities
ECHO Archive
Visit our YouTube channel to watch sessions from past ECHO series.