Addressing Black men's oral health through community engaged research and workforce recruitment

Background Racism negatively affects the life experiences and subsequent health of Black men, including oral disease prevalence and outcomes. Few examples in the literature discuss how racism may affect successful, unsuccessful, and non-attempts to address Black men's oral health. Aims This commentary describes anti-racism approaches to address Black men's oral health through community-based participatory research, oral health promotion, and workforce recruitment. Materials and Methods Stakeholders from two organizations and one dental school share their experiences and key insights on how to strengthen efforts while minimizing the influence of racism on Black men's participation. Results Common insights identified were a need to engage a diverse range of Black men within varying social and economic contexts, race and gender concordance among program leaders and participants, and the value of partnership to reach Black men in places where they feel comfortable and supported. Discussion and Conclusion These examples stress the imperative of addressing racism among Black men in the development and improvement of targeted oral health interventions. They also emphasize the value of commitment from institutional leadership, relationship building with Black men, and the empowerment of Black men to lead program development and implementation efforts.