Big Rapids, Mich.-based Ferris State University has appointed Deborah Brown, DMD, to lead the development and launch of a dental therapy program.
Dr. Brown is the CEO of My Community Dental Centers, a nonprofit organization that operates dental practices across Michigan, according to a March 12 news release from the university.
The dental therapy program will be the first in Michigan, which will be designed to expand dental education pathways and address dental staffing shortages in the state.
More than 1.5 million Michigan residents live in federally designated dental shortage areas.
Dental therapists can provide care in both private dental practices, as well as settings such as schools, mobile clinics and community health centers.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is assisting the university create the program with a federal Health Resources and Services Administration oral health workforce grant, the release said.
