# Advancing oral health equity through integrating patient, provider, and population-based approaches

> **NIH NIH R35** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2024 · $999,776

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The goal of this research program is to advance oral health equity through strengthening the scientific basis for
innovations in population approaches to improving dental care access, utilization, and quality for all. Mounting
evidence suggests that oral health disparities and inequities in the US are largely attributed to population-specific
differences in access to, utilization of, and the quality of oral health care services. These differences arise from
system-wide interactions between biological, psychological, social, environmental, economic, policy, and other
factors. While there is increasing awareness of these complexities, meaningful scientific progress and translation
is stymied by the preponderance of investigations that maintain a focus on individual, single-level factors in
isolation. The proposed research program will incorporate a framework that integrates multi-level perspectives
and approaches (e.g., patient, provider, and population) to advance oral health equity, facilitated by the PI’s
expertise as a social epidemiologist and complex systems scientist. Specifically, the proposed research will
generate novel data on historically underrepresented populations and employ methodologies to conduct
innovative investigations that lie at the intersections of dental care access, utilization, and quality. Findings will
serve to advance the understanding of how and why population oral health disparities and inequities emerge
and facilitate more comprehensive and actionable insights.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11017553
- **Project number:** 1R35DE034352-01
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Brenda Heaton
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $999,776
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-13 → 2032-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11017553

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11017553, Advancing oral health equity through integrating patient, provider, and population-based approaches (1R35DE034352-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11017553. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*