University of Washington School of Dentistry Office of Educational Partnerships and Diversity

The service mission of the Office of Educational Partnerships (OEP) is to improve the oral health and wellbeing of the people of the local community and the region. The OEPD team coordinates outreach programs that are especially attentive to minority and under-served populations. Dental students provide much-needed care to communities with lack of access to care and act as teachers and mentors to youth under-represented in the health professions. These community engagements have the potential to improve the oral health of under-served communities directly but also increase the number of dentists, educators and leaders within these communities in the long-term.