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Advancing Equity in Oral Health

Bolstered by alumni and friends of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, a new scholarship honors trailblazers and enhances diversity in dentistry

Advancing Equity in Oral Health

Advancing Equity in Oral Health

May 8, 2022

Growing up in Chicago, Hoda Mahmoud rarely came across dentists who looked like her. “Only later did I make the connection that it was not due to a lack of interest in the field; rather, it was a lack of opportunities and representation in dentistry,” says Mahmoud, now a member of the Class of 2025 at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM).

A 2020 analysis by the Health Policy Institute confirms Mahmoud’s observation, finding that the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. dental workforce doesn’t reflect that of the U.S. population. According to the study, the U.S. dental workforce is over 70 percent white and 18 percent Asian, with all other groups of color making up less than 12 percent—even though these groups compose more than a third of the U.S. population. Increasing diversity in dentistry can lead to more equitable and higher-quality oral health care for communities of color, whose limited access to dental care contributes to higher rates of periodontal disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Mahmoud is the inaugural recipient of the Freeman, Grant, Franklin Scholarship at HSDM, established to support predoctoral students from underrepresented backgrounds. Activated with a capstone gift from the Colgate-Palmolive Company, the scholarship pays tribute to prominent figures in HSDM’s history: Robert Tanner Freeman DMD 1869, the first African American in the country to graduate from a dental school; George Grant DMD 1884, Harvard’s first African American faculty member; and Dolores Mercedes Franklin DMD ’74, PD ’76, the first African American woman to graduate from HSDM.

Hoda Mahmoud at microphone
HODA MAHMOUD DMD ’25, THE INAUGURAL RECIPIENT OF THE FREEMAN, GRANT, FRANKLIN SCHOLARSHIP AT HSDM

The scholarship, which will be awarded annually, is also funded by gifts from HSDM alumni and community members who are dedicated to expanding diversity in dentistry. These include scholarship namesake Dolores Mercedes Franklin, who went on to achieve many other firsts, such as becoming the first woman and the first person of color to hold the top-ranking dentist executive position in a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company. Through her trailblazing career and her financial support, Franklin is helping to pave the way for future dentists to increase equity in oral health care for all Americans.

“Our students are entering a profession when there still exists an underserved population—a dire separation of those who have oral health needs and those who have access to care,” Franklin says. “This scholarship holds the promise of attracting highly qualified students with financial need and preparing them to be global leaders in their fields, dedicated to improving human health, and in doing so, addressing health disparities.” 

Throughout her career, Franklin has advocated for oral health as integral to systemic health, including through her work leading Oral Health, Programs, and Policy as assistant health commissioner for New York City with a dual reporting line to the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, the nation’s largest public health care system.

“The Harvard School of Dental Medicine has a long legacy of embracing diversity. Our donors’ generous support will help further our ethos to promote greater diversity, inclusion, and belonging in dental education and in oral health research.”

— HSDM DEAN WILLIAM GIANNOBILE DMSC ’96, PD ’96

Much like Franklin, Mahmoud is focused on oral health as fundamental to overall well-being. As she embarks on her academic journey at HSDM, she hopes to become involved in public health research, with the goal of minimizing the negative effects that socioeconomic status can have on patient care. She’s also interested in exploring the connections between mental health, systemic health, and oral health.

“As the daughter of immigrants, I have witnessed the difference in care and empathy between providers that are well-rounded in their experiences with diverse cultures, and those that have limited encounters with their patient pool,” Mahmoud says. “Empathy comes with experience, and it is an essential trait that is needed in the health care field. This scholarship has increased my interest in providing better care for minority groups. With this scholarship, I hope to be a part of the solution.”

Paying Homage to Those Who Went First

ROBERT TANNER FREEMAN
ROBERT TANNER FREEMAN
GEORGE FRANKLIN GRANT
GEORGE FRANKLIN GRANT
DOLORES MERCEDES FRANKLIN
DOLORES MERCEDES FRANKLIN

Robert Tanner Freeman DMD 1869 was a member of the very first class at Harvard Dental School (now the Harvard School of Dental Medicine) in 1867. The son of a carpenter who bought his family’s freedom from enslavement, he became the first African American in the nation to graduate from a dental school, shattering barriers to dentistry for the Black community. After graduation, Freeman opened his dental practice in the same building as his preceptor, Henry Bliss Noble, but his auspicious career was cut short by his untimely death at age 27. His legacy lives on in the naming of the Freeman, Grant, Franklin Scholarship at HSDM as well as the Robert T. Freeman Dental Society—the oldest constituent of the National Dental Association, which promotes oral health equity among people of color and works to increase their numbers in dentistry.

George Franklin Grant DMD 1870 was the second African American to graduate from Harvard Dental School. He also became Harvard University’s first Black faculty member—and the nation’s first Black faculty member in dental education. Grant invented a prosthetic device for patients with cleft palates and is also widely known for his invention and patent of the modern golf tee. After 19 years as an educator, he left Harvard to open his own successful dental practice in Boston—counting Harvard University President Charles Eliot among his patients, who came from as far away as Canada and Michigan to seek treatment. Grant remained connected to the School as a member, and one of the first presidents, of the Harvard Dental Alumni Association.

Dolores Mercedes Franklin DMD ’74, PD ’76 is the first woman of color to attend HSDM. A clinical professor, author, and advocate for oral health as integral to overall health, she earned an MPH at Columbia University in a joint degree program with Harvard and was a postdoctoral clinical fellow in dental public health at HSDM. Her career spans leadership positions in academia, industry, and public policy, breaking the glass ceilings for both gender and race. She served as assistant dean at New York University College of Dentistry, as the highest-ranking dentist executive at the former Sterling Drug Inc., and as assistant commissioner in New York City with a dual reporting line to the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. Franklin became a consultant and researcher for the U.S. Department of Labor and the Colgate-Palmolive Company. Like Grant, she also served as Harvard Dental Alumni Association president.

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