American Institute of Dental Public Health (AIDPH)

Background

The American Institute of Dental Public Health is a research, education, and advocacy organization focused on “oral health equity.” It was co-founded in 2015 by transgender activist Annaliese Cothron and university professor David Cappelli. Cappelli used two awards from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services totaling $3.75 million to establish the organization. ^{3 4}

Educational Programs and Events

The American Institute of Dental Public Health offers a Federal Service Internship that provides advanced dental students with a one-week experience in Washington, D.C. to learn about the federal health infrastructure. Interns visit several branches of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, including the Health Resources and Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and the Food and Drug Administration. ⁵

The AIDPH Rural Oral Health ECHO Program offers monthly sessions for dental professionals focused on case presentations and discussions. ⁶ Past topics have included Migrant Oral Health ⁷ and Rural Oral Health Equity. ⁸

Columbia University partners with the AIDPH on a 10-week fellowship program focused on “advocacy and research for special populations including veteran oral health, oral health for LGBTQIA+ people, and oral health in rural communities.” ⁹

In June 2021, the AIDPH hosted a workshop entitled Supporting Oral Health Care for the Transgender Community, claiming that transgender people “feel stigmatized, fear discrimination, or struggle with finding dental clinicians who can provide affirming care.” ¹⁰

In October 2024, the AIDPH hosted LGBTQIA+ Oral Health Week “to provide education, resources, and opportunities to address healthcare disparities and promote inclusive, affirming care for the LGBTQIA+ community.” The event was posted on Facebook by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and elicited much commentary, both supportive and critical. ^{11 12}

In March 2025, the AIDPH is expected to host its annual AIDPH Colloquium for oral health professionals entitled “Dental Care as a Human Right: Advancing Oral Health Justice Through Community Empowerment.” It is described as a “transformative dialogue at the intersection of oral health, human rights, and social justice.” ¹³

Advocacy

In advance of the November 2020 presidential election, the American Institute of Dental Public Health issued a statement encouraging oral health professionals to vote while keeping “oral health equity” in mind. It affirmed its commitment to health equity, “particularly within the key areas of antiracism, LGBTQIA+ health equity, rural health, and dental public health leadership.” ¹⁴

In 2021, the AIDPH partnered with the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health on a white paper with recommendations to improve oral health for veterans. ¹⁵ CareQuest is a research and policy advocacy organization focused on “a more accessible, equitable, and integrated health system for everyone.” ¹⁶

In May 2024 AIDPH submitted written testimony for a U.S. Senate hearing on “the US healthcare crisis driven by the accessibility and affordability of dental care.” Its testimony focused on dental care for “underserved populations – especially its core focus groups of veterans, rural communities, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community.” It supported the Comprehensive Dental Care Reform Act of 2024 introduced by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). ¹⁷

In January 2025, the AIDPH published a response to the second Trump administration’s new policies targeting identity-based programming, calling them “targeted political attacks on transgender people, Indigenous people and their land, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, immigrants, and federal and global health policy.” The statement claimed, “We cannot have oral health without reproductive health, without mental health, without gender-affirming health.” Right-of-center influencer Robby Starbuck published the statement on Instagram, commenting that it’s “so crazy that you almost can’t believe it’s real.” ¹⁸

Funding

Co-founder and board chair David Cappelli has been awarded grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research which have been used to fund the American Institute of Dental Public Health. The organization has also received donations from foundations, and state and local sources. ¹⁹

Other donors include the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation, the Pay It Forward Foundation, the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, ²⁰ the DALE Foundation, the Dental Diversity and Inclusion Alliance, the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, and the Oral Health Progress and Equity Network. ²¹

Leadership

Annaliese Cothron is the co-founder and executive director of the American Institute of Dental Public Health. Cothron earned a master’s from Mississippi State University specializing in experimental psychology and a doctor of health sciences from A.T. Still University. Before co-founding the AIDPH she worked at UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry for eight years. She was also the executive director of the Texas Repository of Oral Health Data for Evaluation and Outcomes. ⁵ Cothron is a member of the Unitarian Universalist church of San Antonio, Texas, the mother of a transgender child, and an activist for transgender interests in Texas. She is a board member of the LGBT activist group Equality Texas, ²² Texas Impact, and the Texas Oral Health Coalition. ²³ Cothron is a member and supporter of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. ²⁴

David Cappelli is the co-founder and board chair of the AIDPH. He is a professor at the University of Nevada School of Dental Medicine and a board member of the American Board of Dental Public Health. He earned a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Texas School of Public Health and worked there as a director of the dental public health residency program for 13 years. ^{25 4} He is a member of the National Coalition of Dentists for Health Equity. ²⁶