03 June 2025

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The Center for Oral Health Releases Groundbreaking White Paper

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The Center for Oral Health (COH) is proud to announce the release of its newest white paper, Health Equity in Oral Health: Moving Beyond Equality to Justice. This timely publication marks a bold step forward in COH’s longstanding commitment to equity-focused healthcare and highlights how oral health must be reimagined as a matter of justice rather than equal access alone.

The white paper distinguishes between equality and equity, revealing how a one-size-fits-all approach fails to address the complex needs of communities experiencing the greatest oral health disparities. Through evidence-based analysis and case studies from the Center for Oral Health’s very own Early Smiles Sacramento and the Big Bear Rural Health Clinic, the report demonstrates how targeted, community-driven solutions are key to achieving fair outcomes.

“Equity requires more than good intentions. It requires systemic action,” said Tiffany Turner, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Oral Health. “This paper challenges all of us to stop settling for equal treatment and start designing systems that truly meet people where they are.”

At the Center for Oral Health, our approach to advancing health equity is grounded in the Social-Ecological Model and the Quadruple Aim. These frameworks shape how we design and implement programs, ensuring they improve population health, enhance patient experience, reduce systemic inefficiencies, and support providers. The white paper outlines solutions such as school-based services, mobile dentistry, medical-dental integration, and community health worker programs. Each strategy is paired with actionable policy and practice recommendations to guide healthcare providers, policymakers, educators, and advocates.

The paper also calls for stronger Medicaid protections, investment in community-based models, culturally responsive care, and workforce diversity as essential components of a more just oral health system.

Health Equity in Oral Health: Moving Beyond Equality to Justice is now available online.

Read the full white paper here.

About the Center for Oral Health

Founded in 1985, the Center for Oral Health is a leading nonprofit committed to improving oral health for vulnerable populations through research, innovation, and advocacy. COH’s evidence-based initiatives and partnerships have helped reshape oral health access and policy in California and across the United States.

Source: https://www.centerfororalhealth.org/