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Non-profit

American Institute of Dental Public Health (AIDPH)

Website:

www.aidph.org
Location:

River Forest, IL
Tax ID:

84-2850098
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2022):

Revenue: $595,965
Expenses: $352,481
Assets: $452,533
Type:

Health advocacy group
Formation:

2015
Executive Director:

Annaliese Cothron
Budget (2023):

Revenue: $410,916
Expenses: $661,841
Total Assets: $168,975 27

References

  1. AIDPH. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part I). 2023.

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The American Institute of Dental Public Health (AIDPH) conducts research, educates, and advocates for a “justice-oriented oral health system.” It focuses on rural communities, veterans, those with disabilities, and LGBT people, claiming that these are underserved populations who suffer from dental health care inequities. 1 2

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

References

  1. “Focus Areas.” AIDPH. Accessed from internet archive capture on Wayback Machine dated January 24, 2025. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250124112632/https://aidph.org/focus-areas/
  2. “Sparking Change.” AIDPH. Accessed from internet archive capture on Wayback Machine dated January 24, 2025. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250124101935/https://aidph.org/
  3. “National Public Health Week 2020 Highlights.” GuideStar profile – Videos. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-2850098
  4. “David P. Cappelli.” University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.unlv.edu/people/david-p-cappelli
  5. “AIDPH.” GuideStar profile. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-2850098
  6. “American Institute of Dental Public Health Rural Oral Health ECHO Call for Case Presentations.” West Virginia Rural Health Association. July 26, 2022. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://wvrha.org/2022/07/american-institute-of-dental-public-health-rural-oral-health-echo-call-for-case-presentations/
  7.  “Innovations in Rural Oral Health: Specific Populations – Highlighting Migrant Oral Health.” LinkedIn Events. June 15, 2023. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/events/7073002827643588609/comments/
  8. “Rural Oral Health ECHO: Community Engagement with an Asset-Based Approach for Oral Health Equity.” YouTube. Posted April 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=what+is+Rural+Oral+Health+ECHO&mid=6A48011B42E5988E2BB56A48011B42E5988E2BB5&mcid=022B86DC2FC7479A8F1F75E8BAA5F417&FORM=VIRE
  9. “American Institute of Dental Public Health – Summer Fellowship Program.” Columbia University. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/preprofessional/opportunities/dental/446379
  10. “Supporting Oral Health Care for the Transgender Community.” YouTube posted June 30, 2021. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoO2uG8R78E
  11. Facebook – American Dental Hygienists’ Association. Posted October 21, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=949754897187237&set=a.297236915772375
  12. Spring Hatfield. “Addressing ADHA’s Support of LGBTQIA+ Oral Health Week.” Today’s RDH. November 27, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.todaysrdh.com/addressing-adhas-support-of-lgbtqia-oral-health-week/
  13. “2025 AIDPH Virtual Colloquium.” Zeffy. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/4143e4ff-bd92-4b8d-9ebe-47de52726ccd
  14. AIDPH Statement. GuideStar profile – Photos. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-2850098
  15. “CareQuest Institute and American Institute of Dental Public Health Issue Recommendations on Veteran Oral Health.” CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. December 16, 2021. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/12/16/2353822/0/en/CareQuest-Institute-and-American-Institute-of-Dental-Public-Health-Issue-Recommendations-on-Veteran-Oral-Health.html
  16. “How We Work.” CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.carequest.org/how-we-work
  17.  “AIDPH Provides Written Testimony on Senate Committee Dental Crisis Hearing.” Newswire. May 28, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.newswire.com/news/aidph-provides-written-testimony-on-senate-committee-dental-crisis-22337965
  18. Instagram post by Robby Starbuck dated January 23, 2025. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1882619099810861303?s=46&t=jI5pta-LqWTQoagVEw7hsA
  19.  “About Us.” American Board of Dental Public Health. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.abdph.org/About-Us
  20. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer search. AIDPH. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?q=842850098
  21. “Partners.” AIDPH. Accessed from internet archive capture on Wayback Machine dated January 24, 2025. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250124025030/https://aidph.org/partners/
  22. “Annaliese Cothron.” UU World. April 22, 2022. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.uuworld.org/articles/annaliese-cothron
  23. “Annaliese Cothron DHSc, MS, CPH.” Texas Oral Health Coalition. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://txohc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Annaliese-Cothron-biosketch.pdf
  24. Jo Yurcaba. “Trans kids and advocates blame culture for debate over adolescent health care.” NBC News. June 17, 2022. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-health-and-wellness/trans-kids-advocates-blame-culture-war-debate-adolescent-health-care-rcna33679
  25. LinkedIn – David Cappelli. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cappelli-38257259/
  26. “The National Coalition of Dentists for Health Equity.” September 10, 2020. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.dentaltherapy.org/pdf/DHE-Bios_updated-9.10.20.pdf
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: March 1, 2020

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2022 Dec Form 990 $595,965 $352,481 $452,533 $-4,866 N $223,929 $372,036 $0 $71,600
    2021 Dec Form 990 $446,746 $130,060 $355,900 $-5,114 N $30,031 $416,715 $0 $50,083

    American Institute of Dental Public Health (AIDPH)


    River Forest, IL