Delta Dental provides students with scholarships to fight hygienist shortage

This article was originally published here.

OKEMOS, Mich. (WILX) - Around 30% of dental hygienists left the field during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s left a shortage of hygienists across the country — and in Michigan.

A scholarship hopes to help change that by giving 35 dental students a shot at finishing school and getting them started with their careers.

Delta Dental is investing $350,000 into scholarships for dental students.

The students will receive scholarships of $10,000 each, along with additional funds to purchase the necessary school supplies.

There are 242 dental health professional shortage areas in Michigan, meaning there are not enough providers to meet the demand of the community.

These scholarships will hopefully help get more dentists and dental hygienists for the community.

Kimberly Garland, the manager of the Delta Dental Foundation, said some people have to wait up to a year to see a dentist in our area because of this shortage.

“People are trying to get into the dentist, they want to go, but there is such a wait because there is a workforce shortage. There are not enough hygienists, not enough dentists. So when they’re trying to get in, we’re seeing some federally qualified health centers in particular that are seeing a wait list of 500 to even one thousand people,” said Garland.

Yalda Omari is one of this year’s scholarship winners. She is currently in school to be a dental hygienist.

Omari said dental hygiene is important because it can quickly impact your overall health.

She feels everybody deserves proper oral care.

“Oral health is a fundamental of overall health, and a lot of people view it as a separate, you know, dental care, you know, oral health, separate from general health, but in reality, they all work together. Just like my career, my job is to make people smile kind of, so I think that’s beautiful,” said Omari.

Omari is set to graduate next year.

There is still a need for thousands of dental professionals, but this is a step in the right direction.