Pennsylvania is facing a shortage of dental care in its rural areas, with nearly 2 million residents living in regions where access to dental services is limited. The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, led by Dean Marnie Oakley, is launching an initiative aimed at addressing this issue through the creation of Regional Training Centers (RTCs).
Dean Oakley’s background includes growing up in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, and serving as a naval dental officer. She recalled her early experiences: “I have never seen more need and dental disease in my entire life,” referring to the recruits she treated who had never visited a dentist before joining the Navy.
The new RTCs will be established in places like Titusville and Bradford, with patient care scheduled to begin in July. Additional centers are planned for other locations such as Johnstown. These centers will offer clinical training for dental residents, hygienists, and assistants while providing affordable care to underserved communities.
Oakley explained the motivation behind this effort: “We’re enhancing each region’s overall health and economic development through creating new workforce opportunities in the health care field for the now healthier individuals who live there.”
She noted that staffing shortages worsened after 2020 due to factors including the COVID-19 pandemic. This has affected both urban and rural practices but has been especially hard on rural offices that may close if even one staff member leaves. Oakley said, “Like dental offices across the profession, we rely on our auxiliaries to function. They essentially run the office… Without them, the efficiency in a dental office is severely limited.”
According to Oakley, only about 6% of Pennsylvania’s dental school graduates choose to practice in rural areas. She attributed this to preferences for urban amenities, professional isolation, recruitment challenges, and lower Medicaid reimbursement rates.
The RTCs aim to counter these trends by training students within their own communities rather than requiring them to relocate. Oakley stated: “Yes, one of the significant differences with the RTC approach is that we are training students in rural areas. We are not asking them to come to the city to train and then go back, which rarely happens.”
The programs offered include a yearlong General Practice Residency (GPR), a six-month Dental Assistant Training Program that accepts students straight from high school, and a two-year Dental Hygiene Program following online prerequisites. Students can earn a Bachelor of Science degree after three years.
Partner organizations such as regional hospitals are expected to benefit from federal funding tied to medical education as well as revenue from additional services provided by Pitt teams. The presence of RTCs may also reduce emergency room visits for nontraumatic dental conditions—a problem that cost Pennsylvania $584 million in 2024.
Oakley emphasized that improving oral health could have broader impacts: “As the people of the community visit our RTCs, our teams will offer educational resources and regular dental exams and cleanings to help break this cycle and ultimately prevent dental disease from occurring in the first place. I expect our program will improve the oral and overall health of the communities we serve for decades to come.”
