Reimagining the Health Workforce:
100 Million Mouths Campaign in Missouri and Beyond
Sponsored by DHSS Office of Dental Health
Presented by Dr. Shenam Ticku
Session Overview:
This session will provide an overview of the 100 Million Mouths Campaign, which aims to train and support 50 oral health education champions, one in each state, over the next decade. These champions collaborate with medical, osteopathic, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, and midwifery schools, as well as related residency programs, to sustainably integrate oral health curricula. The presenters will also highlight the program’s work in Missouri and other states as an example of the campaign in action.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the goals, structure, and national impact of the 100 Million Mouths Campaign in advancing oral health training within primary care.
- Identify opportunities to engage with the 100 Million Mouths Campaign and strengthen oral health training in participants’ own states.
- Illustrate, using the work led by the Missouri State Champion, how the 100 Million Mouths Campaign enhances the training of primary care providers across multiple disciplines.
Dr. Shenam Ticku, MPH, BDS
Assistant Professor of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Dr. Shenam Ticku is an assistant professor of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology and serves as the pre-doctoral discipline director for OHPE at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She was also a Rabkin Fellow in Medical Education for the 2024–2025 academic year. Her research focuses on medical-dental integration, training, and policy reform. She has served as a co-investigator in the federally funded Center for Integration of Primary Care and Oral Health (CIPCOH), assessing the integration of oral health in primary care training. Additionally, she was a sub-project co-principal investigator on a study examining behavioral health and social determinants of health within dental workforce training. Her research has also explored the feasibility of integrating mental health screenings in dental settings, supported by the Eleanor and Miles Shore Faculty Development Award. She is the principal investigator of the 100 Million Mouths Campaign, a national initiative aimed at enhancing the primary care workforce’s oral health knowledge, skills, and competencies. She has led multiple studies under the HSDM Initiative to Integrate Oral Health and Medicine, further advancing interprofessional collaboration in oral health care.
Thank you DHSS Office of Dental Health for sponsoring this session!
