Sangeeta Gajendra Appointed Chair of EIOH Community Dentistry

Eastman Institute for Oral Health has appointed Sangeeta Gajendra, DDS, MPH, MS, (GenDen '04, MS ‘12) as chair of Community Dentistry and Oral Disease Prevention.

She has devoted more than two decades to advancing oral health for vulnerable and underserved populations in the Rochester region, reflecting her commitment to translational public health science, community partnerships, and equitable access to care.

Since 2011, Gajendra has served as clinical chief of Community Dentistry and Oral Disease Prevention, overseeing clinical operations, mobile and school-based programming, and community partnerships across the region. She has been integral in expanding EIOH’s SmileMobile, a flagship program that delivers care directly to Rochester schoolchildren who frequently face barriers to treatment.

She also serves as program director for EIOH’s Dental Public Health Residency Program, and project director for a multi-year, $2.1 million HRSA-funded training initiative preparing dental residents to care for medically complex, underserved, and vulnerable populations.

“Dr. Gajendra has spent her career at the intersection of community care and education,” said Eli Eliav, DMD, PhD, MBA, director of Eastman Institute for Oral Health. “Her work strengthens our safety-net mission, expands access, and inspires dentists to choose community dentistry as a career path.”

Gajendra has led research studying fluoride varnish as an intervention to prevent cavities among young children and implemented a successful fluoride varnish program for city schools. Her collaborations span Rochester city schools and community centers, rural health organizations, public health departments, faith-based and cultural groups, and local and state policymakers.

She holds joint appointments in the Center for Community Health & Prevention and Public Health Sciences and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications on dental public health, tobacco use and cessation, oral health during pregnancy, and epidemiology of oral disease in diverse populations.

She also served on the editorial board of FluorideScience.org, which educates the public about the best scientific information available on fluoride use, and as vice chair of the New York State Oral Health Coalition, where she contributed to statewide strategies on fluoridation, community prevention, and cross-sector oral health integration.

Gajendra received her dental degree from A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences in India, followed by an MPH from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001. She completed an AEGD Residency at EIOH in 2004 and earned her master’s degree in Medical Management from the University of Rochester in 2012.