Touro students win 2025 Dental Student Health Literacy Video Contest

2026 contest to open in May

Students from the Touro College of Dental Medicine won the American Dental Association’s 2025 Dental Student Health Literacy Video Contest with their video dispelling myths related to dental X-rays.

The contest is held each year by the National Oral Health Literacy Alliance — formerly known as the National Advisory Committee on Health Literacy in Dentistry — a group of health literacy experts and practicing dentists who advise the ADA Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention. The work of the alliance centers on helping dentists and team members communicate with patients in a way that is clear and understandable, thus improving patients’ oral health literacy.

The video contest is designed to help dental students improve their patient communication skills before they become dental professionals. The 2025 theme focused on addressing misinformation related to X-rays, fluoride, oil pulling, charcoal toothpaste and more.

Teams from the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine won second and third place. First, second and third place came with prizes of $2,000, $1,000 and $500, respectively, to be divided among the members of each team.

The National Oral Health Literacy Alliance judged the contest and used a rubric to rank the videos on the basis of skill, resourcefulness, originality, entertainment, creativity and production quality, placing particular emphasis on the use of plain language and the correct application of health literacy principles, said Shailee Gupta, D.D.S., chair of the alliance.

"The winning videos were chosen based on the students' ability to showcase their creativity, knowledge and passion for improving patient communication through oral health literacy best practices,” Dr. Gupta said.

Submissions for the 2026 contest are expected to open in May. More details will be announced soon.