Small Grants Program

The American Association for Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD) Foundation was established to support the future of dental public health education and science and to support the primary goals of the Association including:
  • Promotion of effective efforts in disease prevention, health promotion and service delivery;
  • Education of the public, health professionals and decision-makers regarding the importance of oral health to total well-being; and
  • Expansion of the knowledge base of dental public health and fostering competency in its practice.
One exciting opportunity that the Foundation creates for its members is the AAPHD Foundation Small Grant Program. The Small Grant Program is designed to stimulate innovative education or research projects that benefit dental public health and the oral health of the public. The Foundation’s guiding principles and funding areas of interest identify a broad array of topics for which support can be provided. These include, but are not limited to, studies or interventions designed to:
  • Improve access to personal and population based oral health services
  • Build and strengthen the dental public health workforce
  • Translate science into practice
  • Maintain competency in dental public health
The Small Grant program provides a one year grant of up to $5,000 that serves to generate data that can be used to apply for larger grants that can move science, policy, and practice to the “next step” toward enhancing oral health.  

Priority will be given to:
  • Applications from individuals who are at an early stage of their dental public health careers. We are especially interested in applications from students in DPH Residency programs who are completing their required research projects and from members of AAPHD Student Chapters.
  • Applications that seek to utilize and enhance partnership with existing programs, projects, and organizations.

Contribute to the Small Grants Program

Grant Recipients

2025

Title: Pediatric Nutritional Supplement Drink Consumption and Early Childhood Caries 

Dr. Christine Chiao

Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine 

 

Title: ‘THRIVE’: An oral health education pilot project in the Comprehensive Addiction
Treatment Center (CATC) at Jacobi Medical Center

Dr. Vanessa Mareno
Jacobi Medical Center 

 

Title: The Impact of Maternal Periodontal Disease and Its Treatment on Birth Outcomes:
Evidence from PRAMS

Dr. May Salama

Old Dominion University 

2022

Project Title: “Knowledge is Power: Increasing the Dental Public Health Residency Pipeline Among Underrepresented Minority Groups”

Tiffany Wilson, DDS, MPH, Assistant Professor, Meharry Medical College
Dental Public Health Resident, University of Rochester Medical Center, Jacobi site

2021 
Mommy and Me Project of Monroe County, New York

Prasida Khanal, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester
Sangeeta Gajendra, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester

2020
Assessing Patient and Provider Perceptions About Teledentistry in the Emergency Department

Katelyn Kleutsch, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health, A.T. Still University
Ann Spolarich, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health, A.T. Still University

2019
Recruit a Smile: Research into the Veteran’s Population

Amber Humphrey, Tunxis Community College

2018
Understanding Community Engagement in Low-income, Predominantly Black Communities to Promote Oral Health

Patrick Smith, DMD, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
Caswell A. Evans, DDS, MPH, Associate Dean of Prevention and Public Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
Khatija Noorullah, MPH, Clinical Community Academic Manager and Clinical Instructor, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
Janelle Wade, MPH, Extramural Education Program Coordinator, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry

2017
Acceptability of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) by children aged 7-16 years and their caregivers in a Dental School Setting

Mithila Patki, BDS, MHA, Resident Dental Public Health, Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health Sciences, Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry
Marisol Tellez, BDS, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health Sciences, Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry
Vinodh Bhoopathi, BDS,MPH, DScD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health Sciences, Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry
Shannon Myers PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health Sciences, Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry

2016
Preschool-Based Fluoride Varnish and Tooth-Brushing Oral Health Promotion Program in Esteli, Nicaragua 

Nick Capezio, DMD candidate, Boston University
Corinna Culler, RDH, DrPH, Director, School-Based Programs, Boston University
Michelle Henshaw, DDS, MPH, Associate Dean Global & Population Health, Boston University

2015

AAPHD ASDOH San Cristobal, Dominican Republic Dental Public Health Outreach

Primary Student Investigator: Vy Vy Vu, MPH, DMD (Class of 2017), AAPHD ASDOH Student Chapter President
Primary Faculty Mentors: Heather Johnson, RDH, Med, and Yvette Thornton, RDH, BS, AAPHD ASDOH Student Chapter Advisors
Primary Site Supervisor: Bruce White, DDS, AAPHD ASDOH Humanitarian Outreach Faculty Advisor
Collaborative Site Supervisor: Ingrid Pimental, Clinical Director of Mission Medica Dominica, San Cristobal, Dominican Republic

2014
Improving Oral Health for Vulnerable Massachusetts Populations by Joining Forces with our Medical Allies

Principle Investigator: Lisa Simon, BS, DMD Candidate Class of 2014, Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Co-Investigators: Katherine Schiavoni, BS, MD/MPA Candidate Class of 2015, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School, Chiara Rivas-Morello, BA, DMD Candidate Class of 2014, Romesh Nalliah, BDS, Department of Global and Community Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine

2013
An Educational collaboration between Medicine and Dentistry

Rocio Quinonez, DMD, MS, MPH
Alice Chuang, BA, MD
Jane Weintraub, DDS, MPH
Jeffrey Jackson, BS & Amanda Kerns, BS (Dental students)
The University of North Carolina Schools of Dentistry and Medicine

2012
Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke on the Oral Health of Adolescents Living in Nevada

Christina A. Demopoulos, DDS, MPH
UNLV School of Dental Medicine

2011
A survey of the attitudes and opinions of practicing dentists in Minnesota regarding dental therapy and new workforce models.

Christine M. Blue, BSDH, MS
Director and Assistant Professor,
Division of Dental Hygiene,
Univ. of Minnesota School of Dentistry

2009
Building a Dental Public Health Workforce in the Indian Health Service

Catherine Hollister, RDH, MSPH, PhD,
Timothy L. Ricks, DMD, MPH,
Nashville Area Dental Support Center,
Indian Health Service