Dr. Aljernon Bolden, Director of Extramural Programs and Associate Professor of Preventive and Health Sciences in Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, was named one of Ebony magazine’s 100 Most Influential Black Americans in the publication’s May 2005 issue. Dr. Bolden currently is President of the National Dental Association.
“I won’t get an ego” about the recognition, Dr. Bolden said jokingly, noting the Ebony honor “is for recognition of the National Dental Association’s services and the importance of organizations of people of color.”
The National Dental Association (NDA) is the oldest and largest oral health organization for minorities in the United States. It was founded in 1913 when African Americans were not allowed to join existing oral health organizations – a prejudice that continued into the second half of the 20th century as well, according to Dr. Bolden.
The NDA works to enhance the professional skills of its members, recruit under-represented minorities into dentistry, and create opportunities for research for its members in the communities they serve. The organization is committed to elevating the health status of the underserved by serving as advocates in the public and private sectors to increase access to care.
“We have always believed that oral health care is a right and not a privilege,” said Dr. Bolden. “Approximately 80% of people of color are treated by people of color, so there’s a shortage – about 12% of this nation is African American, but less than about 3% of the oral healthcare work force is African American. And those patients can least afford to pay.
“We [the NDA] are one of the safety nets to access to care,” Dr. Bolden continued. “It’s crucial that we have in the workforce an equity that reflects the population of the United States.”
Dr. Bolden began his one-year term as President in January 2005. Previously, he served with the NDA House of Delegates, Board of Trustees, and as Vice President.
In reflecting on the NDA’s leadership and the leadership qualities he hopes to exhibit, Dr. Bolden said, “Leadership is both innate and something developed over time. There are some qualities that can be developed, such as administrative qualities. But certain qualities – vision, ability to work with multiple people and tasks, the ability to see the big picture and try to get the best out of individuals, and the personal fortitude and belief and passion in what you’re doing –these are not things you can teach.”
As President, Dr. Bolden is on the road monthly, working with more than 30 different organizations and lobbying with politicians to discuss and address the great disparities in healthcare in the United States. “It’s a delicate balance of professional time, personal time, and family time,” he explained. “The amount of time you can work on any project and turn it around in a timely way is always a challenge.”
He also spends a great deal of time working to recruit talented young minorities into dentistry by speaking to and networking with student dental associations around the country. “There’s the potential to be role models,” he said. “Young people see people of color in jobs that they then can aspire to.” The NDA also offers mentoring programs that include reaching into high schools, and even grammar schools.
“The more we see positive images of people of color and the profession, the better,” Dr. Bolden continued. “Look at the media – you don’t see positive images of dentists. You need dedicated people of color stepping up to the plate and taking care of their communities.
“I take visibility very seriously,” he said. “That’s why I’m in education. I spent 15, 20 years in primary care in the inner cities and county health departments. Now it’s better for me to be teaching and mentoring. Now, through the NDA, I can work on the national level to help it be more visible.”
Dr. Bolden is most pleased about the Ebony recognition because, “It helps raise the visibility of what we’re doing. One of my friends said ‘you’re on the page just behind Oprah!’ so I guess that’s good. But the main thing is that when a national magazine acknowledges you and the work you’re doing – and their readership is not just African American – they’re portraying positive images of people doing positive things for the community,” he concluded.
--Written by Felicia Swanson