ADA seeks volunteers to help shape dentistry’s future

Oral Health 2050 aims to establish roadmap for next 25 years

The American Dental Association is seeking volunteers to contribute to Oral Health 2050, a strategic initiative aimed at establishing a roadmap for dentistry’s next 25 years.

“As ADA president, I began asking where we want dentistry to be 25 years from now — and how we get there together. Oral Health 2050 grew out of that vision,” said ADA President Richard Rosato, D.M.D. “This initiative is about bringing together diverse perspectives from across dentistry and beyond to meet challenges and opportunities head on and shape a stronger future for our profession and our patients.”

Volunteers will lend their expertise to one of four panels on the following subjects: artificial intelligence and technology, wellness, payment models, and delivery of care. Their insights will help shape survey questions to uncover critical perspectives on dentistry’s future from consumers.


The ADA welcomes a diverse pool of applicants representing various geographic regions, practice modalities and patient populations. They may include dentists, dental educators, nondentist industry leaders, and established and emerging health care innovators. The expected time commitment for panelists is about 10 hours of virtual engagement.

Beyond informing the survey questions, panelists will use analysis from the survey results, their own expert insight and available research to make hypotheses, draw conclusions or propose solutions that will guide the rest of the work of the Oral Health 2050 Task Force producing the final content.  

Interested parties can nominate themselves or colleagues by submitting a letter of intent of no more than 200 words and current curriculum vitae to OralHealth2050@ada.org by Feb. 13.

The Oral Health 2050 Task Force will review applications and select panelists based on relevant experience, professional background and subject matter expertise. The ADA Board of Trustees reauthorized the task force in November 2025 to oversee the work of the Oral Health 2050 initiative.

“This exercise is going to be an imagination of what the future delivery of oral health could be 25 years from now,” said Brett Kessler, D.D.S., chair of the Oral Health 2050 Task Force and immediate past ADA president. "I hope it will create conversations across the dental community and beyond that will drive us toward the best possible future for our profession.”