Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Oral health
Veterans Health Care: Information on Eligibility for and Use of Dental Benefits
Provides an overview of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) dental benefits and eligibility. Describes the number and percentage of VHA-enrolled veterans who were eligible for VA dental benefits between 2020 and 2025. Presents data by demographic characteristics, including age and rural residence. Explores the potential effect of expanding eligibility for VA dental benefits to all veterans with a heart disease diagnosis. Appendix I discusses VHA's use of teledentistry between 2020 and 2025, including the number and percentage of VHA facilities, by facility type and rurality, that provided at least one dental visit by teledentistry.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Provides an overview of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) dental benefits and eligibility. Describes the number and percentage of VHA-enrolled veterans who were eligible for VA dental benefits between 2020 and 2025. Presents data by demographic characteristics, including age and rural residence. Explores the potential effect of expanding eligibility for VA dental benefits to all veterans with a heart disease diagnosis. Appendix I discusses VHA's use of teledentistry between 2020 and 2025, including the number and percentage of VHA facilities, by facility type and rurality, that provided at least one dental visit by teledentistry.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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An Academic-Community Partnership Model for the Virtual Dental Home
Describes the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)-Smile Keepers virtual dental home program, a collaboration which operated from 2021-2025 and offered school-based teledentistry services. Explores ways in which similar programs can help close access gaps for children in rural and underserved areas.
Author(s): Manwa Hegde, Katie Conklin, Rachel Howard, et al.
Citation: Journal of the California Dental Association, 54(1), 2719416
Date: 09/2026
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Describes the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)-Smile Keepers virtual dental home program, a collaboration which operated from 2021-2025 and offered school-based teledentistry services. Explores ways in which similar programs can help close access gaps for children in rural and underserved areas.
Author(s): Manwa Hegde, Katie Conklin, Rachel Howard, et al.
Citation: Journal of the California Dental Association, 54(1), 2719416
Date: 09/2026
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Kentucky Rural Health Transformation Budget Period 1 Annual Report: CMS Checkpoint Model Evidence
Reports on the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) in Kentucky. Outlines each initiative, including initiative governance, a list of signed contracts, success stories, and more.
Additional links: Five-Year Project Plan
Date: 08/2026
Sponsoring organization: Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
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Reports on the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) in Kentucky. Outlines each initiative, including initiative governance, a list of signed contracts, success stories, and more.
Additional links: Five-Year Project Plan
Date: 08/2026
Sponsoring organization: Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
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2025 Pennsylvania Dentist and Dental Hygienist Workforce Survey Report
Presents findings from the 2025 Dentist Survey and 2025 Dental Hygienist Survey, designed to collect information on the characteristics and distribution of the dentist and dental hygienist workforces in Pennsylvania. Features demographics and statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural location.
Date: 08/2026
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Department of Health
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Presents findings from the 2025 Dentist Survey and 2025 Dental Hygienist Survey, designed to collect information on the characteristics and distribution of the dentist and dental hygienist workforces in Pennsylvania. Features demographics and statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural location.
Date: 08/2026
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Department of Health
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State of Oral Health in America: Key Findings from 2026
Details the findings of a survey that aims to identify gaps in dental coverage, barriers to care, and areas that have worse overall oral health outcomes across the country. Compares metro and nonmetro areas by dental insurance coverage, adult dental visits, and overall oral health.
Date: 08/2026
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
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Details the findings of a survey that aims to identify gaps in dental coverage, barriers to care, and areas that have worse overall oral health outcomes across the country. Compares metro and nonmetro areas by dental insurance coverage, adult dental visits, and overall oral health.
Date: 08/2026
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
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Teledentistry in Health Centers: Promising Practices for Increasing Access to Oral Health Care
Highlights several promising practices using teledentistry to increase oral health access. Explores how five different programs in urban areas, and one in rural South Dakota, are using teledentistry via health centers to address workforce shortages and expand oral health access.
Date: 07/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Network for Oral Health Access
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Highlights several promising practices using teledentistry to increase oral health access. Explores how five different programs in urban areas, and one in rural South Dakota, are using teledentistry via health centers to address workforce shortages and expand oral health access.
Date: 07/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Network for Oral Health Access
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Arkansas Older Adult Basic Screening Survey Report 2026: A Look into the Oral Health of High Risk Older Adults in Arkansas
Reports on the oral health of adults aged 60 and older in Arkansas using 2026 Arkansas Older Adult Basic Screening Survey data. See pages 7-8 for county-level data and metro-nonmetro comparisons.
Author(s): Sheree Huntsman, Brooke Mehner, Rachel Sizemore
Date: 07/2026
Sponsoring organization: Arkansas Department of Health
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Reports on the oral health of adults aged 60 and older in Arkansas using 2026 Arkansas Older Adult Basic Screening Survey data. See pages 7-8 for county-level data and metro-nonmetro comparisons.
Author(s): Sheree Huntsman, Brooke Mehner, Rachel Sizemore
Date: 07/2026
Sponsoring organization: Arkansas Department of Health
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Health Professional Shortage Areas: Dental Care
Printable map that shows nonmetropolitan and micropolitan dental care HPSAs on one color scale and metropolitan dental care HPSAs on another. Data source: data.HRSA.gov
Additional links: Dental Health HPSA Table
Date: 07/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Printable map that shows nonmetropolitan and micropolitan dental care HPSAs on one color scale and metropolitan dental care HPSAs on another. Data source: data.HRSA.gov
Additional links: Dental Health HPSA Table
Date: 07/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Promoting Your Teaching Health Center Dental Residency
Toolkit offering strategies to reach dental students and encourage them to consider residency programs in Teaching Health Centers. Full access to toolkit requires a free Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) account.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organizations: 3RNET, THCGME.org, The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
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Toolkit offering strategies to reach dental students and encourage them to consider residency programs in Teaching Health Centers. Full access to toolkit requires a free Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) account.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organizations: 3RNET, THCGME.org, The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
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Rural vs. Urban Patterns of Dental Care Services and Outcomes among Medicaid-Enrolled Children in Early Childhood
Describes rural and urban patterns of preventive and restorative dental care and oral health outcomes among Medicaid-enrolled children aged 2 through 5 in 2021-2022. Includes data on the percent of children who received any preventive dental services, children with fewer than 2 cleanings per year, and number of dental caries diagnosed each year by rurality.
Author(s): Cassie Odahowski, Joni Nelson, Amy Martin, et al.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
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Describes rural and urban patterns of preventive and restorative dental care and oral health outcomes among Medicaid-enrolled children aged 2 through 5 in 2021-2022. Includes data on the percent of children who received any preventive dental services, children with fewer than 2 cleanings per year, and number of dental caries diagnosed each year by rurality.
Author(s): Cassie Odahowski, Joni Nelson, Amy Martin, et al.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
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