Dental schools and access disparities: what roles can schools play?

Dental schools can address access disparities in several ways: the direct delivery of dental care to underserved population; the recruitment of students more likely to provide care to underserved population; clinical experiences that will influence student and resident career decisions, and basic and clinical research. Currently, schools are having a modest impact on the access problem, and there are several promising new efforts underway. These include establishment of dental school clinics in underserved areas that are run as real delivery systems rather than as teaching laboratories; the recruitment of more underrepresented minority and low-income students; the assignment of senior students and residents to community clinics; and basic and clinical research.