Apple Tree Dental’s mission for overcoming barriers to oral health acknowledges the important role of clinical dental records in research investigations to generate evidence that will inform clinical and policy innovations to promote health equity. For over 38 years, Apple Tree Dental staff have emphasized a commitment to high-quality clinical charting to enable our dental record to be an unmatched resource for a variety of investigations. In addition to performing our own internal analysis to continuously improve our ability to provide the best care to the communities and unique patient populations who we serve, we have partnered with a number of research collaborators who share Apple Tree’s values to demonstrate the effectiveness of the innovations that our organization has pioneered.
In 2021, we were supported by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health with a Research Infrastructure Grant to develop the resources and protocols to enable effective collaboration with external research partners. Apple Tree then created a Research Strategic Plan in 2023, for which the overall objective is to "Sustain and increase Apple Tree Dental's capacity to operate as a Learning Health System. Apply evidence and evaluation in engaging community partners in the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs and projects that support our advocacy for improving access to oral health and whole person care through integrated services in our Community Collaborative Practice Model." We are grateful to our patients, staff, donors, funders and research partners for continuing to support Apple Tree Dental’s ability to be a source of high-quality clinical data to positively impact the dental profession and oral health equity for all.
Published in Frontiers in Oral Health in February 2025, this article was co-authored by Apple Tree Dental's Dr. Lyubov Slashcheva, Brenda Prosa, Nicole Ferrian, Dr. Jesse Grantz, Deborah Jacobi, and Dr. Michael Helgeson, with a team from Analytics and Data Insights from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Funding for part of this project was generously provided by the Shavlik Family Foundation.
Apple Tree Dental’s case study highlights how deploying an Advanced Dental Therapist at its rural Madelia clinic improved care delivery, productivity, and cost-effectiveness, suggesting benefits for other rural dental practices.
Originally published in 2018, this article explores the question: "Can dental therapists help the current, primarily office-based, dental delivery system meet the needs of long-term care residents?"
"Provider and Patient Satisfaction With the Dental Therapy Workforce at Apple Tree Dental"
Published by the Gerontological Society of America in April 2021, this article dives into changes that have occurred in the oral health care of older adults due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
