The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Dentistry and the School of Nursing and Health Studies have received National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding potentially totaling $4.38 million over the next five years.
The schools will collaborate with the Kansas Bureau of Oral Health School Sealant Program to examine the impact of dental hygienists in Kansas, according to the university. The research will study oral health and social outcomes in school-aged children in prekindergarten to high school from 17 underserved, primarily rural communities who receive school-based care from dental hygienists.
"The Kansas Department of Health and Environment's (KDHE) Bureau of Oral Health is proud to have this opportunity to partner with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Schools of Dentistry and Nursing and Health Studies and all stakeholders involved to further the goals of this National Institutes of Health grant," stated KDHE Bureau of Oral Health Director Cathleen Taylor-Osborne in a press release. "We look forward to collaborating with our partners to decrease oral health disparities of children in our state."
The UMKC School of Dentistry is the only public dental school in the Missouri and Kansas region, according to the university. The school has an agreement with the state of Kansas to educate dentists from the state in addition to its priority for educating dentists in Missouri.
