Jared Fine, DDS, has dedicated over 50 years of service to expanding access to dental care and promoting health equity for all. Throughout his career, Dr. Fine’s community-based prevention, public health education, cross-industry collaboration and public policy advocacy efforts have had a profound impact on populations across California.
Five decades of selfless leadership and service
Dr. Fine has directly addressed barriers to dental care for underserved and vulnerable populations, specifically children and seniors.
“Since prevention is so vital to oral health, I have always felt that beginning with active preventive programs and accessible information was the best investment we could make for our children. When I came on the scene professionally, I also realized that care for older adults was a huge unmet need for which we as a profession needed to find answers.”
Fine’s approach to dental care accessibility meets underserved groups where they are. For children, he advanced community water fluoridation and providing sealants in a school-based setting with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s National Preventive Dentistry Demonstration Program, benefitting 25,000 elementary school students across 10 cities. In the 1980s, he developed an adolescent dental outreach program demonstrating how dental care utilization increased among high-risk students who were screened by school nurses and received referrals for follow-up care.
Fine has also developed programs that bring oral health services and education directly to seniors who may face challenges physically accessing the care they need, including portable dental services for nursing home residents.
Reflecting on his professional accomplishments, Fine says he’s most proud of his work on Oakland’s Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax. From 2017 to 2019, he worked with city and county leaders to address the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and childhood diabetes, obesity and dental caries, particularly in underserved populations. His advocacy contributed to the successful passage of the tax.
“The Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax demonstrated that we can successfully partner with medicine, nursing, schools, policymakers and groups of all stripes to address a shared vision of health. Our leadership and commitment—and partnership with CDA—was pivotal, and the positive effects are innumerable.”
Fine’s dedication and commitment to translating urgent community needs into funded, actionable programs encapsulates the spirit of the Public Health Leadership Award.
“As dentists, we have a unique covenant with the public. If what we do is good for the public, it is good for our profession. I am very proud of the work we have done and am grateful for my colleagues both in my local dental society and at CDA.”
About the Public Health Leadership Award
In partnership with Henry Schein, the CDA Foundation Public Health Leadership Award recognizes California dentists who have distinguished themselves through a lifetime of outstanding, unselfish leadership and contributions in the field of dental public health and public policy.
The CDA Foundation accepts online applications each year from April 1 to May 31. Learn more about the award and explore the Foundation’s other grants, awards and programs that support oral health needs. The Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the California Dental Association.