{"id":11720,"date":"2025-08-05T17:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T17:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hprc\/?p=11720"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:48:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:48:24","slug":"ddw-and-hprc-advance-dental-career-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hprc\/ddw-and-hprc-advance-dental-career-equity\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta Dental of Washington and HPRC launch Implementation Guide to advance equity in dental careers"},"content":{"rendered":"

New tool helps dental diversity program use data to improve opportunities for underrepresented youth within the dental profession.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Youth participate in the Dental Career Discovery program<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Delta Dental of Washington has partnered with the University of Washington\u2019s Health Promotion Research Center (HPRC) to launch a comprehensive implementation and evaluation guide designed to improve equity and representation in the dental workforce.<\/p>\n

The new guide supports Delta Dental\u2019s Dental Career Discovery<\/em> program, which aims to inspire and connect youth from historically underrepresented communities with careers in dentistry<\/p>\n

A 2023 report from the American Dental Association<\/a> highlights low diversity in the U.S. dental workforce: over 70% are White, while just 19.8% are Asian, 6% Hispanic, 3.8% Black and 0.5% American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander.<\/p>\n

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\"Youth
Youth in the Dental Career Discovery program<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe Dental Career Discovery program is an innovative approach to workforce development and supporting diversity and equity in dental health careers,\u201d said Marlana Kohn, research scientist at HPRC. \u201cIt brings intentionality to the workforce development pipeline focusing on youth who can enter dental health early in their careers and have opportunities to grow into higher levels of training over time. We are thrilled to support Delta Dental of Washington as they plan for long-term program evaluation and build a foundation to scale the program to additional Delta Dental organizations nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal of the partnership with the HPRC was to set up Delta Dental with the information and tools needed to demonstrate progress toward short-, medium-, and long-term goals. Doing this well requires a structured approach designed specifically to make sure all the pieces fit together seamlessly to achieve their objectives.<\/p>\n

HPRC worked closely with Delta Dental to build a robust implementation and evaluation plan that will produce data on key performance metrics over time and the processes that support program delivery. Understanding how the Dental Career Discovery program meets its goals is critical to scaling the program across Washington and beyond by identifying infrastructure, resources and processes necessary for successful implementation.<\/p>\n

Delta Dental can then ensure those elements are in place as they scale new communities and position the program for success.  Scaling the program will help introduce more youth to dental health careers, expand the dental health workforce, improve workforce representation, and support living wage career paths for historically underrepresented communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dental Career Discovery implementation guide outlines how to:<\/p>\n