Maryland
Maryland hopes to recruit young dentists to workforce shortage areas – Maryland Matters
Maryland has about 70 dentists per 100,000 residents, according data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2020, but that doesn’t mean that they are equally distributed across the state.
State health officials and dental health advocates say that Baltimore and parts of the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland not only lack dentists, but have other barriers that make it difficult for residents to keep up with their oral health.
The Maryland Department of Health aims to change that with a new program urging dental students to launch their careers in areas with dental health care shortages.
The Pathways to Bright Futures program, which launched Wednesday, will educate those students about the dentistry profession in hopes of easing shortage in targeted areas.
Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, the health department’s deputy secretary for public health services said Wednesday that fixing the workforce shortage “won’t be easy and is not going to happen overnight,” but improving access to dental services will help improve overall health equity in Maryland.
“When I think about our vision for health equity in Maryland, I see everyone in our state having a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. It’s going to take hard work … to ensure that health equity includes healthy mouths, teeth and gums for all Marylanders,” he said.
Dr. Debony Hughes, director of the department’s Office of Oral Health, said that many areas in Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore and Baltimore have fewer than 20 dentists per 100,000 residents, well below the national average of 61 dentists per 100,000 residents.
“This program is a collaborative effort to work with students and foster their interests in the oral health field and provide support to those who know they want to practice in the profession,” Hughes said Wednesday during the program kickoff at the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore
Pathways to Bright Futures is funded by a grant to the state from the federal Health Resources and Service Administration. At Wednesday’s event, six dental health students were awarded funds to help pay their dental school tuition.Each of the students plan to practice dentistry in one of the state’s dental shortage areas.
“Cavities in children and adults, and gum disease especially in adults, are among the most prevalent chronic diseases in the United States,” Kalyanaraman said. “The main reason why oral disease is so prevalent is that far too many Marylanders experience barriers to preventative and essential dental care.”
He noted that when Maryland dentists set up their practice, they tend to gather in “more populated and higher income areas, creating significant gaps in access to dental care across other regions of the state.”
“This shortage creates an uneven distribution of dental professionals across the state, which leads to decreased access to dental care, especially in already underserved communities,” Kalyanaraman said.
Dr. George Shepley, a general dentist in Baltimore since 1978 who previously served as president of the American Dental Association, said dental care can help identify other health needs.
“They’re connected. Totally. Especially with things like diabetes and cardiac disease,” Shepley said Wednesday. “And in the world of dentistry, you’ll get insight into well-being overall. You’ll help diagnose other conditions and empower people to really take responsibility for their lives.”
Mary Backley, CEO of the Maryland Dental Action Coalition, said there are a multitude of logistical and economic barriers that can make it challenging for some Marylanders to get to a dental appointment.
Besides a lack of equal access to the state’s 4,300 registered dentists, another issue in dentist shortage areas is transportation, particularly for the more rural communities in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore.
“The biggest barriers, rural-wise, is the distance … It can take miles and miles and miles to get to a provider,” Backley said after Wednesday’s event.
Baltimore residents are more likely to be face a long waitlist to get a dental appointment, according to Backley. And both rural and city residents may struggle to afford child care or take time off work to go to the dentist in the first place.
There are also financial hurdles that make it harder for families to afford a trip to the dentist.
As of January 2023, Medicaid in Maryland began to cover certain dental services for adults. And the General Assembly this year passed legislation to study the feasibility of including full and partial dentures under Medicaid coverage. Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed the bill in May.
The state Medicaid expansions can help many low-income families receive dental health care, so long as they have access to a provider that accepts Medicaid. Not all dentists in Maryland do.
Backley hopes that the Pathways to Bright Futures program will encourage more young people to look to dentistry as a career path and help fill in some of the coverage gaps in the state.
On the bright side, Backley said that residents and Maryland health officials are taking dental health care seriously.
“It’s been incremental, but each year there has been progress,” she said. “People understand the importance of oral health. And the importance of oral health to overall health.”
Maryland’s Kevin Willard accepted Villanova’s offer to become the program’s next head coach, sources confirmed to ESPN, ending more than a week of speculation.
An official announcement could come as early as Sunday.
Maryland just completed one of its best seasons in the past 20 years, earning a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament and making a run to the Sweet 16 before falling to top-seeded Florida. The Terrapins finished 27-9 overall and 14-6 in the Big Ten and were ranked in the top 10 in most predictive metrics. After a 1-3 start to Big Ten play, Maryland lost just four games to Big Ten opponents the rest of the season by a combined nine points.
Willard spent three seasons in College Park, going 65-39 with two NCAA tournament appearances.
He made headlines before Maryland’s first-round NCAA tournament game against Grand Canyon when he essentially broke the news of Maryland athletic director Damon Evans leaving for SMU and explained why he hasn’t signed a new contract in College Park.
“I need to make fundamental changes to the program,” Willard said. “That’s what I’m focused on right now. That’s why probably a deal hasn’t got done because I want to see — I need to see fundamental changes done. I want this program to be great. I want it to be the best in the country, I want to win a national championship, but there’s things that need to change.
“I need to make sure that we are where we are with NIL, and rev share is not where we’ve been with NIL over the past two years. We’ve been one of the worst, if not lowest, in the NIL in the last two years. So, that’s first and foremost. I also have to make a fundamental change where I can do the things that I want to do with my program. I wanted to spend an extra night in New York this year to celebrate Christmas with my team and I was told that we can’t do that because it’s too expensive. So, I don’t know how we can be a top-tier program and I can’t spend one extra night in New York because it’s too expensive.”
As Maryland knocked off Grand Canyon and Colorado State to advance to Willard’s first Sweet 16 and the first for the Terps since 2016, the head coach’s message didn’t change. He acknowledged after Maryland’s Sweet 16 loss to Florida on Thursday that he didn’t know his next step.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Willard said. “I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t talked to my agent. I haven’t talked to my wife.”
At Villanova, Willard will replace Kyle Neptune, who failed to reach the NCAA tournament in any of his three seasons in charge of the Wildcats. Neptune took over in 2022 after the sudden retirement of Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, who led Villanova to two national championships and four Final Four appearances.
It marks a return to the Big East for Willard, a Long Island, New York, native who spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Seton Hall. He led the Pirates to five NCAA tournament appearances and a share of the Big East regular-season title in 2020 — when the program was on track for its highest NCAA tournament seed in nearly 30 years before the tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
Before taking over at Seton Hall, Willard was the head coach at Iona for three seasons and an assistant coach under Rick Pitino at Louisville and with the Boston Celtics. Willard’s father, Ralph, had previously spent time on Pitino’s staff at multiple stops.
News of Willard accepting Villanova’s offer was first reported by Inside Maryland Sports.
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Maryland
How to watch #7 Penn State vs. #2 Maryland men’s lacrosse: Time, channel, FREE live streams
A top-10 NCAA men’s lacrosse battle goes down Saturday afternoon in College Park as the 7th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions take on the No. 2 Maryland Terrapins. The game is scheduled to start at noon ET with TV coverage on BTN and streaming on-demand.
- How to watch: Live streams of the Penn State vs. Maryland game are available with offers from FuboTV (free trial), SlingTV (low intro rate) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).
#7 Penn State Nittany Lions (6-2) at #2 Maryland Terrapins (7-1)
Big Ten lacrosse game at a glance
When: Saturday, March 29 at noon ET
Where: SECU Stadium, College Park, Md.
TV channel: BTN
Live streams: FuboTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate) | DirecTV Stream (free trial)
The Nittany Lions look to get back into the win column after dropping their Big Ten opener Sunday to No. 9 Ohio State at Panzer Stadium. Penn State sits at 6-2 overall after winning its four previous matchups, the highlight of which was a 13-12 overtime win over No. 3 Cornell on March 8. The Lions face a talented Maryland team that sits at No. 2 in the latest national rankings, but the Terps are also in rebound mode after losing their Big Ten opener to Michigan (11-10 3OT). That setback was Maryland’s first and only loss of the 2025 season so far.
Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Maryland Terrapins: Know your live streaming options
- FuboTV (free trial) – excellent viewer experience with a huge library of live sports content; free trial lengths vary; monthly rate after free trial starts at $79.99.
- SlingTV (low intro rate) – discounted first month is best if you’ve run out of free trials or you’re in the market for 1+ month of TV
- DirecTV Stream (free trial) – not the same level of viewer experience as FuboTV, but the 7-day free trial is still the longest in streaming.
The Lions and Terps are set for a noon ET start on BTN. Live streams are available from FuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and SlingTV (low intro rate).
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