Dental caries — tooth decay — is the most common chronic disease of childhood in the United States, affecting more children than asthma or hay fever. Untreated dental caries can lead to pain, infection, missed school days, and long-term health problems. It is especially prevalent in communities grappling with poverty and limited access to healthcare.
Nationwide, fewer than 10,000 pediatric dentists currently practice, and many rural and low-income areas have little or no access to specialty care. These disparities highlight an urgent need for advanced training that prepares new clinicians to serve where they’re needed most.
With support from a new $2.1 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant, the University of Michigan is building on a nearly century-long collaboration between our School of Dentistry and School of Public Health to help address these disparities — and in doing so, support the Human Health & Well-Being impact area of the Look to Michigan strategic vision.
Through this grant, every pediatric dentistry resident will earn a Certificate in Social Epidemiology during their 30-month residency.
The effort represents the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration both schools and the broader U-M community prioritize — bringing together future clinicians with public health researchers to develop professionals who can bridge gaps between science, practice, and policy.
Building on a legacy of collaboration
The collaboration between our School of Dentistry and School of Public Health dates back to the 1930s and 1940s, when Dr. Kenneth Easlick played a pivotal role in establishing both pediatric dentistry and dental public health as formal disciplines within dentistry. His integrated approach to oral health education and research positioned U-M as a national leader in the field.
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Pioneers like Dave Striffler, Brian Burt, and Stephen Eklund later expanded these efforts through joint research, dual-degree programs, and shared faculty appointments. Their work shaped education and care around the world.
Today, the Department of Epidemiology offers the David Striffler Fund Scholarship to support students interested in studying dental public health — a clear demonstration of this enduring partnership.
Integrating public health into clinical training
The Certificate in Social Epidemiology, launched by the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health in 2021, has quickly become one of the most pursued certificate programs offered by the School of Public Health.
It involves 12 credits of coursework beginning with a foundation in core epidemiologic methods, paired with focused training on social determinants of health and health equity.
Through the certificate program, pediatric dentistry residents gain skills in analyzing the root causes of health disparities, interpreting public health data, and developing strategies to reach underserved populations. They learn alongside graduate students in public health, contributing real-world clinical perspectives to classroom discussions.
This interdisciplinary environment enriches courses and broadens learning for all students, creating valuable opportunities to connect public health science with hands-on care.
Developing leaders through community immersion
Leadership development is central to this enhanced residency program. A cornerstone of the experience is an immersive clinical rotation at Mott Children’s Health Center (MCHC) in Flint, which specializes in pediatric services for children and adolescents from qualifying low-income families.
Residents spend a full year at MCHC providing direct dental care to children. This setting exposes them to the complexities of providing care in communities affected by health disparities and reinforces the importance of culturally responsive and family-centered approaches.
Through this experience, residents see firsthand how social context affects children’s dental health — especially in underserved areas. The program prepares clinician-leaders who can improve care, advocate for change, and make a difference in their communities.
By participating in the Social Epidemiology Certificate Program and engaging with multidisciplinary teams at MCHC, residents gain the knowledge and experience needed to lead oral health programs, contribute to public health initiatives, and drive system-level improvements in care delivery.
Graduates are prepared not only to care for individual patients but also to champion policies and programs that benefit child health on a larger scale.
Tackling disparities, training leaders
This focus on leadership continues the tradition started by pioneers like Dr. Easlick, whose work helped establish U-M as a leader in pediatric dentistry and dental public health. Today, this grant-funded program enables us to expand that legacy, ensuring that new pediatric dentists are equipped to address the social and structural factors driving oral health inequities.
Training pediatric dentists to look beyond the individual patient to the broader community advances health equity. This partnership enables us to tackle oral health disparities in Michigan and share best practices nationwide.
As a public university, we have both the privilege and the duty to expand access to cutting-edge resources and to continue training the next generation of leaders who will shape the future of oral health. This grant represents an important step in fulfilling that mission — one that honors our history of collaboration while preparing our graduates to meet the challenges ahead.
— By James Boynton, Giovana Anovazzi, Nancy Fleischer, and Briana Mezuk. James Boynton is a clinical professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry and the program director for the Pediatric Dentistry Residency Program at the School of Dentistry. Giovana Anovazzi is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry at the School of Dentistry and co-principal investigator on the HRSA grant. Nancy Fleischer is a professor of epidemiology and co-director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health at the School of Public Health. Briana Mezuk is a professor of epidemiology and co-director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health at the School of Public Health.
