The project, funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, aims to chip away at a stark access gap: roughly 68% of Indiana's 92 counties are designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas for dental care, meaning there is less than one oral health provider for every 5,000 residents. Rural communities make up the majority of those shortage areas.

The need among children is acute. More than one in four Hoosier children between the ages of 1 and 17 went without dental care over a 12-month period, according to 2022 data from the National Survey of Children's Health. KFF estimated in December 2025 that Indiana would need about 207 additional dental professionals to clear its shortage designations.

Under the plan, dentists and hygienists will be stationed at existing federally qualified health centers — safety-net providers that serve patients regardless of insurance status. Project director Dr. E. Angeles Martinez Mier said the model is designed to remove everyday obstacles that keep families from getting care, such as long drives or losing pay to take a child to an appointment.

"They may have a pediatrician. They may have a gynecologist. They may have a family doctor who serves that community, but they do not have a dentist," Martinez Mier said.

The effort has acknowledged limits. Northern Indiana has no federally funded community health provider in some areas, leaving those communities outside the project's reach. Martinez Mier described the initiative as a starting point rather than a complete solution, noting that the state is pursuing a separate federal rural health program created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to address remaining gaps.

"This is not a fix all," she said. "Every child in Indiana will have access to a dentist, but it is a great first step."

School officials also see the project as a way to shape the next generation of dentists. IU requires students to complete a four-week rotation in community health centers, and Martinez Mier said more graduates are expressing interest in public service careers rather than traditional urban and suburban practices.

"A lot of times, our personal choices are limited by what we know, and by exposing some of our students to those environments, in having them experience firsthand what it means to go into public service, what it means to work into a federal qualified health center, we're giving them that choice," she said.

Dean Dr. Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch emphasized the preventive payoff of reaching children early.

"Most tooth decay can be prevented, especially if we start early before the disease has established itself, and that's why we're really focusing on those young children to help them get off a good start in their life," Murdoch-Kinch said.

The project is in its first year, focused on planning and training. Students are expected to begin working in the community health centers in year two, and the team will collect data throughout the five years to measure progress in expanding access and treatment for Indiana's children.