Barriers that hinder access to oral health were outlined in The Executive Summary of the Surgeon General's Report - Oral Health in America (US Department of Health and Human Services, Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 2000). The most common barriers included lack of awareness of the seriousness of oral health, lack of or insufficient dental insurance, lack of transportation, uncompensated time from work, limited income, low community-to-private provider ratio, dentist nonparticipation with Medicaid/Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and low Medicadaid program reimbursement rates for dental serviccs. In addition, the report suggested development of a National Oral Health Plan to remove these barriers and promote collaboration among the key stakeholders, including induviduals, health care providers, policy makers, and local communities, as well as integration of existing initiatives like Health People 2010 (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2000a). In a follow-up report to this landmark publication, A National Call to Action to promote Oral Health (Call to Action) (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2003), these same stakeholders were asked to partner together to develop and implement strategies to overcome barriers and disparities associated with unmet oral health needs