The CDA Foundation’s Board of Directors play an important role. Their guidance leads ongoing efforts to support dental professionals, reduce barriers to care and improve Californians’ oral health. Today, get to know Jared I. Fine, DDS MPH, a member of the CDA Foundation Board.
In his career as a Dental Public Health Consultant, Fine has a personal connection to the CDAF’s mission. “The Mission of the Foundation encompasses the most fundamental elements of how I would define my own professional career,” he notes. “’Supporting the dental profession in its efforts to meet community needs’ is at heart of the very covenant of our profession with the public. I can think of no better service.”
Children and their unique dental needs are at the heart of many of Fine’s outstanding career achievements. He co-chaired the Coalition for Healthy Oakland Children which conducted the successful Soda Tax campaign in 2015. Fine led the development of the WIC Oral Health Collaborative in Oakland and Hayward, which brings preventive services to WIC.
Fine has been an active participant in the Foundation’s community service efforts for decades. “Between 2003 and 2007 the CDA Foundation conducted a $7 million statewide education program entitled, “First Smiles: Dental Health Begins at Birth,’” he recalls one of his earlier experiences with Foundation leadership. “I served as chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee and project director for curriculum development and training of trainers in a collaborative effort of CDA Foundation and the Dental Health Foundation. The training was developed and conducted with physicians, nurses, dentists, dental hygienists throughout California to address the epidemic of early childhood caries.”
One of Fine’s most memorable moments volunteering with the CDAF occurred when he was conducting training for the First Smiles program. “That program gave me a tremendous appreciation for the power or our profession as a collective and advocate for the oral health of the public,” he says. “We reached most dental societies and 70% of all physicians in California with that program.”
When asked what he’d like to tell his peers about getting involved in The CDA Foundation’s efforts, Fine replied, “The opportunity to participate through the Foundation and our Association is vast. We are blessed with, the organization, the infrastructure and a collective vision that is limitless. I can think of no greater means of professional satisfaction than through our collaborative work.”