Emphasis on Public Health with New Programs

An old wife’s tale says mothers lose a tooth for every baby. Was that true? This question launched Stefanie Russell’s career, focusing on women’s oral health. She found some truth to the saying due to biological, behavioral, and dietary changes during pregnancy. As a dual specialist in periodontics and public health, she continues her quest to solve common problems for many women, especially those especially vulnerable to poor oral health.

“In public health, our emphasis is on population health as opposed to the needs of the patient sitting in the dental chair,” she said. “We are interested in improving oral health for a certain population; my focus is on pregnant persons who may not be getting the dental healthcare they need at a critical time.”  

She recently brought that approach to Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) for a big mission. As an associate professor of pediatric dentistry and community health, she will help the school create academic programs in dental public health.

“There are a lot of disparities in oral health,” she said. “We're looking to train people who will be leaders in dental public health, so those who will go into academia, policy, and research.”

RSDM’s first program will be an online certificate degree for dental public health that is slated for Fall 2025 and will serve as an introductory course of study aimed at training interested persons in the fundamentals of dental public health. Other programs will include a master’s program and a residency program in dental public health. She noted that only about sixteen dental public health residency programs exist in the US. Russell will help incorporate dental public health into the predoctoral curriculum, too.

While these programs will be new additions to the school’s expansive offerings, RSDM is a familiar place for Russell. Her father, Richard Russell, was a general dentist and taught at the school for years. It was through him that she had an introduction to dentistry. After completing her DDS from Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, she pursued a periodontics residency, where she discovered an interest in public health because she could have a much bigger impact on society. That led her to a master’s in public health from the University of Connecticut and a PhD in chronic disease epidemiology from Yale University. “I really value trying to figure out solutions for population health and what works so that more people can improve their oral health and/or benefit from dental care,” she said.

From New York University, she returned to RSDM, where she worked 25 years ago, for this new position to build dental public health programs. “It just was such a great opportunity to start something from scratch,” she said. “Not all schools are that interested in dental public health, so to have that commitment from Rutgers means a lot.” She also recognized the special place RSDM occupies in New Jersey as the state’s only dental school and largest oral health care provider in an urban area.

“New Jersey cities have always struggled with inequities, so I think that adding dental public health to Rutgers will be helpful for populations in New Jersey,” she said. “We plan on working with the Department of Health to develop research and education programs that can benefit people.”