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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Oral health

2023 Pennsylvania Dentist and Dental Hygienist Workforce Survey Report
Presents findings from the 2023 Dentist Survey and 2023 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: 01/2025
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Department of Health
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Associations Between Socioeconomic, Spatial and Educational Factors and Midlife Periodontal Disease Risk: Evidence From 'High School and Beyond'
Examines periodontal disease (PD) risks according to socioeconomic, geographic, and educational factors. Utilizes data from 26,820 people from 1980 to 2021 to analyze self‐reported PD diagnosis, with breakdowns according to educational attainment, demographics, childhood income, geographic region, urbanicity, and more.
Author(s): John Robert Warren, Jessie Himmelstern, Chandra Muller, Eric Grodsky, Ryan Demmer
Citation: Journal of Clinical Periodontology, 52(6), 843-858
Date: 01/2025
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Rural Oral Health Seminar Toolkit
Toolkit highlights resources and best practices for dental schools looking to create a rural oral health seminar. Discusses the importance of providing a rural-focused seminar for dental students and how rural experience and exposure can aid in recruitment of oral health professionals to rural areas with dental health professional shortage designations. Provides examples and best practices for constructing the seminar.
Date: 01/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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2025 North Carolina Rural Health Snapshot
Presents data on rural North Carolina demographics, health information, and healthcare infrastructure. Offers statistics on issues including food access, income, healthcare coverage, maternal health, behavioral health, housing, internet access, and more. Features a county-level map with shadings showing rural and urban or suburban counties.
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organizations: Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation, North Carolina Rural Health Association
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Georgia Dentist Workforce Report 2025: Based on 2024-2025 Licensure Renewals and New Licensees
An overview of Georgia's dental workforce. Includes statistics on distribution of Georgia dentists by age, sex, work hours per week, specialty, and years of licensure. Features county-level maps showing counties without dentists and concentrations of dentists per 100,000 residents as of 2025.
Author(s): Chet Bhasin, Leanna Greenwood, LePrissa Moore, Briana Harris, G.E. Alan Dever
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce
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Georgia Dental Hygienist Workforce Report 2025: Based on 2024-2025 Licensure Renewals and New Licensees
An overview of Georgia's dental hygienist workforce. Includes statistics on distribution of Georgia dental hygienists by age, sex, work hours per week, specialty, and years of licensure. Features county-level maps showing counties without dental hygienists and concentrations of dental hygienists per 100,000 residents as of 2025.
Author(s): Chet Bhasin, Leanna Greenwood, LePrissa Moore, Briana Harris, G.E. Alan Dever
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce
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Challenges and Strategies to Improve Access to Oral Health Care in Rural America
Provides an overview of barriers to oral health in rural areas, and discusses strategies to increase access to oral health care and improve rural public health outcomes. Covers topics including dental insurance, service delivery models, oral health workforce, the role of oral health professionals in addressing opioid and tobacco use, and water fluoridation.
Author(s): Liang Hong, Shillpa Naavaal, Sohini Dhar, Siddardha Chandrupatla
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD)
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2023 Health Professional Underserved Areas Report: Kansas Primary Care and Rural Health
Features information on Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) in Kansas. Discusses healthcare workforce recruitment and retention as well as rural hospital programs during 2023. Provides county-level data and maps on Primary Care, Mental, and Dental HPSAs. Includes a table classifying counties as urban, semi-urban, densely-settled rural, rural, or frontier.
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: Kansas Department of Health and Environment
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Select Committee on Advancing Rural and Small Town Health Care Final Report - To the General Assembly of Virginia
Recommendations for improvement in healthcare in rural Virginia, based on information from meetings with providers and citizens in rural areas. Areas of focus are health workforce, maternal health, dental care, obesity, telehealth, and transportation.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Commonwealth of Virginia, House Select Committee on Advancing Rural and Small Town Health Care
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Dental Clinic Deserts in the US: Spatial Accessibility Analysis
Provides a spatial analysis of 205,762 active U.S. dentists and examines access to dental clinics cross the country. Includes maps that show county-level dental shortages as well as demographic breakdowns of residents, such as poverty, insurance status, rurality, and more.
Author(s): Shahinoor Rahman, Jeffrey C. Blossom, Ichiro Kawachi, Renuka Tipirneni, Hawazin W. Elani
Citation: JAMA Health Forum, 7(12)
Date: 12/2024
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