NEWS
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded two grants to the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry. With these funds, the college will advance its goals of educating the next generation of dentists and dental hygienists and improving statewide access to dental care.
The first grant, awarded through HRSA’s Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program, provides the College of Dentistry more than $774,000 in funding to support its educators and researchers. Starting this year, faculty members can submit applications to the college’s new loan repayment program, which offers total loan forgiveness over a five-year period.
By mid-2027, the program’s advisory and selection committee will select applicants based on factors such as their debt burden, teaching contributions and community engagement. Those who apply after the initial selections may also receive partial loan forgiveness based on remaining funds.
According to the American Dental Association, the average dental school student takes on almost $300,000 in educational debt. With the new HRSA-funded program, the College of Dentistry will relieve financial burdens for faculty members and help keep them at OU amid plans to increase dental student enrollment by 33 percent over the next five years.
Paul Mullasseril, Dean of the College of Dentistry, noted that dentistry schools around the country face significant faculty shortages. In addition, more than 70% of practicing dentists in Oklahoma graduated from the College of Dentistry – the state’s only dental school – making it critical for the College to meet its hiring and retention goals.
“Most people go into dental school to practice dentistry, not necessarily to teach,” Mullasseril said. “It takes a special kind of person that is motivated and has a desire to teach to become a faculty member. Our new loan repayment program makes teaching more attractive for somebody who is considering academics, especially if their entire loan is paid off through this grant.”
The second grant, awarded through HRSA’s Grants to States to Support Oral Health Workforce Activities Program, provides more than $2.7 million for the College of Dentistry to expand dental care in rural Oklahoma communities. The funding will support the college’s work with the Oklahoma Dental Foundation (ODF)’s MobileSmiles clinic in Jefferson County, a federally designated rural Dental Health Professional Shortage Area.
Jefferson County in southern Oklahoma is one of 11 counties in the state that lack a permanent dentist, according to the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry. It also contains many medically vulnerable populations, including low-income residents, children and Medicaid beneficiaries.
Through a partnership with ODF and the Jefferson County Health Department, the College of Dentistry will send approximately 40 fourth-year dental students each year over a five-year period to serve these populations in the state-of-the-art MobileSmiles van. Preceptor dentists from both the College of Dentistry and nearby counties will oversee the students as they provide services such as examinations, cleanings, extractions and fillings.
The college’s presence in Jefferson County, building on a previous, successful 2-week MobileSmiles clinic there, will help in-need residents and familiarize dental students with industry work in a rural setting. This exposure is critical to addressing access gaps in underserved communities, and the project will also monitor graduates’ practice locations after the clinic to assess its impact on improving the rural workforce.
This effort also continues the College of Dentistry’s work with ODF to expand dental care access in the state. Last year, they launched a MobileSmiles clinic in panhandle city of Guymon, which set the blueprint for this latest collaboration. Mullasseril said the college aims to serve more counties through this partnership, as part of the OU Strategic Plan’s emphasis on lifting the health of Oklahoma.
“After four or five years in Jefferson County, we’ll explore the possibility of establishing a brick-and-mortar clinic in that community,” Mullasseril said. “That will allow us to move the mobile clinic to another county while setting up a permanent presence where there is need.”
About the projects
The University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry’s Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration, under Grant No. HRSA-26-066.
The University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry’s Jefferson County MobileSmiles Rural Oral Health Workforce Initiative is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration, under Grant No. HRSA-26-084.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and healthcare needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded two grants to the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, strengthening the college's efforts to recruit and retain faculty, and to improve dental care access in rural Oklahoma.
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