Donate
Making a gift to the National Network for Oral Health Access is one of the easiest ways to positively impact our work, enhance our services, and help our community strengthen and increase access to oral health services. NNOHA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Join & Renew
NNOHA is the largest group of safety-net oral health practitioners in the country, and our members all share a commitment to increasing access to quality oral health care for underserved populations. NNOHA is committed to providing the highest quality resources and support designed to meet the unique needs of our members and their programs.
Health Centers provide oral health services for underserved populations at dental clinics throughout the United States. Between 1998 and 2008, the number of Health Centers offering on-site dental services increased from 411 to 850, and the number of dental patients went up by 158%. As dental capacity grows, the need for a dental workforce committed to caring for underserved patients is growing as well.
Given the growing demand, new types of dental providers such as dental health therapists and advanced dental hygiene practitioners – sometimes called mid-level providers – have been proposed as a way to strengthen the dental safety net and to address unmet needs for dental services. If successful, such programs can not only facilitate a division of labor that allows dentists to manage and treat more acute and complex issues, but also contribute to primary prevention of severe and expensive problems.
New Dental Workforce Models
