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Limited access to care, lack of cultural and linguistically diverse services, and financial and transportation constraints are only a few of the barriers that hinder many Ohioans from receiving essential dental care.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, one in eight adults aged 18+ reported they had unmet dental health care needs in 2021, with 45% of adults reporting not having a dental visit in the past year. The 2023-2024 Make Your Smile Count! Statewide Oral Health Screening Survey of Third Grade Schoolchildren also shows that one in four third-grade schoolchildren were rated by their parent/guardian as having fair/poor oral health and that one in five didn’t have a dental visit withing the last year.

Thanks to a new $50,000 grant received from the Delta Dental Foundation, the 5X���� College of Public Health will work collaboratively with MetroHealth Medical Center, Axess Pointe, and the Medina County Health Department to implement the CHW Smiles program, a Community Health Worker training focused on dental health.

“The program will train a cohort of 8 dental community health workers in Ohio,” says Sonia Alemagno, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Public Health.

“The long-term goal is to create a sustainable training program and a model for statewide expansion, with a focus on rural and urban underserved areas, and to work toward Medicaid and other reimbursement for CHW services provided in dental practices in Ohio.”

According to Gregory Heintschel, DDS, MBA, chairperson of the MetroHealth System Department of Dental Medicine, “The CHW Smiles program will prepare CHWs to serve as trusted liaisons between communities and oral health providers. The training will equip participants with skills in oral health education, interpretation and translation, patient navigation, community outreach, and addressing socioeconomic barriers to dental care.”

The grant will also document how dental-trained CHWs may increase oral health literacy and reduce language, transportation and financial barriers to dental care, and patient engagement with preventive services, free clinics, and referral networks.

“The program will help expand access to oral care by strengthening and growing the oral health workforce,” states Krista Wasowski, MSW, MPH, Medina County health commissioner. 

For more information about the CHW Smiles program contact Sonia Alemagno at salemagn@kent.edu

Learn more about the Community Health Worker programs