Burton Edelstein, D.D.S., M.P.H.

Burton L. Edelstein DDS MPH is Professor Emeritus of Dental Medicine (in Pediatric Dentistry) and Health Policy & Management at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and serves as Special Lecturer at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. A Board Certified Pediatric Dentist and Board Qualified Dental Public Health Specialist, he has dedicated his clinical, research, teaching, and advocacy career to advancing the oral health of socially disadvantaged children.

Major career appointments include Professor and Chair of Population Oral Health at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine (2000-2019); Founding Director and Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the Children’s Dental Health Project, a DC advocacy organization focused on health equity (1998- 2019); Commissioner of the federal Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (2009-2014); Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow and Congressional Health Aide to US Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (1996-1997); and President of Children’s Dental Associates of New London County PC, a pediatric dental group practice (1975-1996).

Since 2002, Edelstein has been awarded over $28M in foundation and federal research, training and service support including more than $9M to develop and test a novel pediatric dental caries prevention and disease management program called MySmileBuddy. The MySmileBuddy Program and its educational technology support value-based healthcare and interdisciplinary delivery models, address social determinants of health, build on established cariology science and behavior-change theory, and hold promise to enhance oral health equity through early intervention and redistribution of resources. In 2022, Edelstein’s research group developed a second oral disease prevention and management program called WeSmile that supports caregivers of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A graduate of SUNY Binghamton Harpur College, SUNY Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health, Edelstein trained at SUNY Upstate Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital. His work has been nationally recognized by associations of pediatric (AAPD) and public health dentistry (ASTDD, AAPHD, MSDA), dental students (ASDA), dental societies (ACD, ICD, CDS, CSDA), the dental research community (FNIDCR), foundations (Shils, NYSDAF, OHA) and educators (Maryland, Harvard, Columbia, ADEA).