MEMBERS New Members


The MDA welcomes these new/renewed members (to July 5):


GREATER KANSAS CITY Richard Campos, Clinton (ATSU-MOSDOH 19) Jeimy Diaz Abreu, Lee’s Summit (Marquette Univ 20) Caresa Doakes, Kansas City (UMKC 14) Michelle Hendrix, Independence (UMKC 21) Louis Jessop, Kansas City (Univ of IA 15) Miranda Jimenez, Kansas City (UMKC 17) Andrew Medlin, Kansas City (Creighton Univ 13) Taylor Rogers, Clinton (Univ of TN 21)


GREATER ST LOUIS Paria Abbassian, O’Fallon (Indiana Univ 21) Brittany Daniel, Florissant (UMKC 20) Rebecca Gollub, St. Louis (Boston Univ 20) Alexander Hernandez, St. Louis (Univ of KY 19) Rachel Kehr, Ballwin (Univ of WA 20) Carlos E. Pirela Gomez, Florissant (Foreign 04) Guillermo Puig Arroyo, St. Louis (Univ of Puerto Rico 17)


GREATER SPRINGFIELD Emmanuel Salar, Springfield (ATSU-MOSDOH 20)


SOUTHWEST Laurel Prichard, Carthage (UMKC 08)


Deceased Members


The MDA expresses its condolences for these deceased members (to July 5):


GREATER ST. LOUIS Lawrence Dobransky, St. Louis (SLU 57) died May 30. Richard Landgraf, Florissant (SLU 53) died April 17. Elwood Needy, St. Louis (SLU 58) died April 25.


GEHA Solutions Invests $250K Into Oral


Health Equity Partnership with UMKC Efforts focused on diversifying dentistry and dental hygiene


GEHA (Government Employees Health Association) has a storied history of sup- porting its community with intentional giving, starting in 1937 when the organi- zation was created to help fellow postal clerks after the Great Depression.


This spirit carries through to today, where philanthropic efforts are focused around health equity and positively impacting the social determinants of health. The oral health focus of GEHA Solutions, Inc., a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of GEHA, has provided an opportunity to make a significant vote toward change by investing in three areas that affect community health.


Within the dental and dental hygiene fields, many communities of color are underrepre- sented within these industries. According to the ADA, fewer than 11 percent of American dentists come from African American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx and American Indian/ Alaska Native/Pacific Islander backgrounds, compared with these groups comprising 34.4 percent of the U.S. population. This can affect long-term health outcomes in many ways: apprehension and omission of care appointments, cultural and language misunderstand- ings and peer-to-peer dentist learning opportunities to better serve patients. To create meaningful, sustainable change, GEHA Solutions has created a $150,000 scholarship and fellowship investment with the UMKC School of Dentistry to fund opportunities for students representing historically marginalized communities to advance within these industries.


Representing the largest gift of its kind to the UMKC’s School of Dentistry’s Dr. Roy James Rinehart Memorial Foundation in more than a decade, these investments include five $20,000 dental scholarships, five $5,000 dental hygiene scholarships, and five $5,000 pre-dental fellowships to prepare rising dental school students for testing and interviews. Engagement opportunities throughout the school year with GEHA leaders will also assist in preparing these students for future successes.


Consistent with this theme, GEHA Solutions has partnered with national nonprofit BrownGirl, RDH for a $50,000 investment in scholarships and continuing education op- portunities for historically marginalized communities pursuing a career in dental hygiene. These 16 need-based scholarships will be provided to students throughout the U.S., rang- ing from coverage of tuition to dental loupes and equipment.


In the recently published Specialist Directory, we deeply regret missing in the Prosthodontics section Dr. Bruce Cummings (4151 N Mulberry Dr Ste 260, Kansas City MO 64116-4622, Phone 816-454-9090). You can find the most recent version of the directory at modental.org/specialist.


Youth sports communities offer great experiences for wellness and mobility, but with this comes a risk for oral impact injuries. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, athletes are 60 times more likely to suffer harm to the teeth if they are not wearing a mouthguard. In the spirit of using GEHA’s partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs as an intentional tool for health equity and community collaboration, GEHA Solutions will provide 20,000 GEHA/Chiefs co-branded mouthguards to the youth participants of the Chiefs Flag Football, Powered By GEHA program this summer. Providing these safety tools allows for participating families to experience one less expense as an entry point to physical team activities.


Read the complete release at https://bit.ly/3ccR8Gb. ISSUE 4 | JUL/AUG 2022 | focus 13


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