Advancing Children’s Oral Health Through Research and Prevention

For Zahra Alhay, a doctoral student in the Health Promotion Sciences Ph.D. program at the Hudson College of Public Health, a career in dental hygiene became the foundation for something bigger: improving children's oral health outcomes through research, prevention, and policy.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, Zahra began her career training as a dental hygienist and working in clinical settings. With a strong interest in furthering her education, she came to the United States intending to pursue a master’s degree in dental hygiene. When she learned that licensure requirements would prevent her from enrolling directly in a U.S. dental hygiene program, a mentor encouraged her to consider public health instead.

That pivot changed everything.

She enrolled in a Master of Public Health program at the University of Southern California. There, she began to see oral health through a broader lens—one that extended beyond clinical treatment to prevention, behavior change, and the social factors that shape health.

“In the clinic, I would treat patients and give them instructions,” Zahra explains. “But I started realizing that standardized instructions don’t always fit someone’s background or environment. I wanted to understand the bigger picture through the individual, community, and environmental factors that contribute to oral health.”

That desire to look upstream led her to the Health Promotion Sciences Ph.D. program at the Hudson College of Public Health.

Examining the Factors That Shape Children’s Oral Health

Zahra’s dissertation includes three complementary studies examining how individual, environmental, and community-level factors influence children’s oral health behaviors and outcomes. One project focuses on caregiver psychosocial factors and their impact on children’s oral health.

“Caregivers play a central role in shaping children’s habits,” she says. “If we understand the psychological and social factors influencing caregivers, we can design better, more tailored interventions.”

This study involves collecting new data from elementary schools located in dental shortage areas to better understand how targeted interventions can support children and families. Currently, she is working with five schools in Duncan and five schools in Lawton, with plans to expand if additional participants are needed. The study also includes a secondary analysis of Oklahoma Oral Health Survey data for third-grade children obtained from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

This geographic focus is intentional.

“The majority of Oklahoma counties are identified as dental shortage areas,” Zahra notes. “That’s alarming, and we need research that helps guide resource distribution and workforce planning.”

Turning Research into Impact

Zahra’s work recently received support that will directly strengthen participation and engagement in her study.

An in-kind donation from Liberty Dental Plan will provide toothbrushes, toothpaste, school supplies, drawing kits, and bookmarks as small tokens for students who return completed surveys. Funding from the Delta Dental of Oklahoma Foundation will allow her to offer incentives for participating schools, teachers, and caregivers. Both organizations share a commitment to enhancing the oral health of Oklahomans and serving communities with limited access to dental care.

“Teachers are critical partners in this process,” she explains. “They help distribute surveys and communicate with families. This funding helps ensure strong engagement and high-quality data.”

Ultimately, she hopes her findings will help practitioners and policymakers develop targeted oral health interventions, particularly for communities with limited access to care.

“If we can intervene early, we can prevent disease before it starts,” Zahra says. “Oral diseases are largely preventable, and when children develop healthy habits early in life, those habits stay with them.”

Looking Ahead

After completing her Ph.D., Zahra plans to return to Saudi Arabia to pursue a career in academia, where she hopes to continue researching children’s oral health and prevention strategies while mentoring the next generation of public health professionals.

Her time at the Hudson College of Public Health has been instrumental in shaping that path. She credits the supportive faculty in the Department of Health Promotion Sciences for helping her navigate the challenges of doctoral study. She works as a graduate research assistant with Dr. Reinschmidt, and her dissertation is supervised by Dr. Dan Li. She also expresses gratitude to Dr. Finnell, who previously served as her advisor before her retirement.

“The faculty are always supportive and approachable,” Zahra says. “During the dissertation phase, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But they always make time, and I’ve never hesitated to ask questions.”

Beyond the Research

Outside of her academic work, Zahra prioritizes time with her family. A mother of two, she enjoys spending weekends outdoors hiking, biking, and exploring with her children. Those everyday moments also shape how she thinks about prevention and behavior change.

“Taking care of your teeth is a habit,” she says. “And habits start early.”

Through both her parenting and her research, Zahra sees the same principle at work: when children build healthy routines early, they carry them for life. Through her work, she aims to ensure that children in Oklahoma and beyond have the knowledge, support, and access they need to develop those lifelong habits.