Burton Edelstein
Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH (Chair)
Burton Edelstein is a Board certified pediatric dentist and professor of
dentistry and public health at Columbia University, where he is Chairman of the
Section on Social and Behavioral Sciences. Burton practiced pediatric dentistry
in Connecticut and taught pediatric dentistry and oral health policy at the
Harvard School of Dental Medicine for 21 years before committing to full time
health policy practice. He served as a 1996-7 Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy
Fellow in the office of US Senate minority leader Tom Daschle with primary
responsibilities for SCHIP. He worked with the US Department of Health and
Human Services on its oral health initiatives from 1998 to 2001, chaired the US
Surgeon General's Workshop on Children and Oral Health, and authored the child
section of the US Surgeon General's Report Oral Health in America. Edelstein is
a graduate of Harpur College, SUNY Buffalo School of Dentistry, Harvard School
of Public Health, and the Boston Children's Hospital pediatric dentistry
residency program. His work has been recognized by a number of organizations
including the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (Pediatric Dentist of the
Year), the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (Outstanding
Service Award), the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (Distinguished Alumnus
Award), and the American College of Dentists (Outstanding Service Award). With
support from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Academy of
Pediatrics, and American Dental Education Association, Dr. Edelstein founded
the Children's Dental Health Project in 1997, incorporating it as a 501(c)3 in
1999.