Founded in Dallas and driven by the mission of improving oral health among the Hispanic community, our association has a local scope that strives to increase people’s access to oral health care. According to a book published by Patricia Gubitosi et al, by 2020, North Texas will have 1-2 million more residents. It's projected that Latinos will reach 3.2 million in 2020, almost catching up to the estimated 3.6 million non-Hispanic whites in the area. Shortly after this date, Hispanics will become the largest ethnic group in DFW.*

Based on these statistics, it’s evident that the Hispanic segment of the population inhabiting our local area will continue to be underrepresented by health care professions Therefore, NTHDA will play a major role during this time and in the future as the Hispanic population continues to grow and expand. We stand in a unique position to help meet the needs for this population by working towards our vision.

Hispanics need to be taken into account in different programs that are developed for access to health care. They need associations like the NTHDA, which operate in a service-oriented manner, are capable of providing culturally-oriented oral health education, and support the expansion of access to oral health services.

*Gubitosi, P., & F., R. P. M. (2021). Linguistic landscape in the Spanish-speaking world. John Benjamins Publishing Company.