At the Indiana University School of Dentistry, we’re invested in our community. Our outreach work in Indianapolis and across the state brings positive change to people who use our services, while at the same time enhancing the educational experience for our students.
Through outreach programs offered by the School of Dentistry’s Offices for Civic Engagement and Community Based Dental Education our students and faculty:
Office for Civic Engagement
Director: Armando Soto
Email: civiceng@iu.edu
Office for Community Based Dental Education
Director: Anubhuti Shukla
Email: cbde@iu.edu
While our outreach programs may vary from year to year, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni are always doing good work for our community. Here’s just a sampling of some of the programs we’ve offered.
Since 1996, we have increased access to dental care and education by making monthly trips to rural northern Indiana to provide dental services to children at an Amish community clinic.
We provide oral health care services for children housed in area shelters for the
homeless and for victims of domestic violence.
The Give Kids A Smile® (GKAS) program, launched nationally in 2003, provides underserved children with free oral health care. Providing free dental screenings, fluoride treatments, and preventive dental treatment for local children in need. All children receive a free toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and oral hygiene instructions.
We provide oral screening, counseling, referral, and mouth guards at the Special Olympics Indiana State Games as part of the Healthy Athletes program.
The Community Based Dental Education (CBDE) program at Indiana University School of Dentistry has been instrumental in developing strong community partnerships, by means of successful implementation of robust, immersive, rotations for fourth year dental students at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and look alike. The overall purpose of the CBDE program is to address the oral health workforce needs of Indiana’s Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) by expanding the dental workforce and increasing the accessibility and quality of oral health services, in a sustainable manner.
We use portable equipment to provide preventive oral health services for underserved rural and urban children, individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the elderly, especially those who do not have adequate access to preventive dental care.
