Registration now available!
KOHC is excited to host our annual meeting on Friday, December 11, 2026 from 10:00AM – 4:00PM ET in-person at the Bluegrass Community & Technical College in Lexington, Kentucky. Check-in and refreshments will begin at 9:30am ET and the meeting will begin promptly at 10:00am ET.
Bluegrass Community and Technical College will also be offering an optional tour of the dental hygiene program beginning at 9:00am ET. For those joining the tour, check-in will begin at 8:30am.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Michael Helgeson
Presentation: Overcoming Barriers to Oral Health: Collaborating to Optimize Health and Reduce the Total Cost of Care
Biography: Dr. Michael Helgeson is one of the founders, and CEO of Apple Tree Dental, an innovative non-profit organization that operates ten Centers for Dental Health and delivers on-site care in collaboration with more than 150 urban and rural organizations including Head Start Centers, schools, group homes, hospitals, medical clinics and nursing facilities. Two Centers are located within rural hospitals, including at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont Minnesota. Apple Tree’s team in Minnesota delivers more than $40 million worth of dental care each year, and its model has been replicated in North Carolina, Louisiana. Education and research are integral to Apple Tree’s mission, with more than 500 student rotations hosted each year, a formal AEGD Residency program, and research collaborations with the Mayo Clinic, CareQuest and more. In 2017, Dr. Helgeson was included in a list of the 32 most influential people in dentistry published by Incisal Edge, and in 2019, the American Association for Community Dental Programs selected Dr. Helgeson for the John P. Rossetti Community Oral Health Impact Award in recognition of his leadership at the local, state and national levels.
We look forward to bringing together leaders in the oral health community, policymakers, oral health advocates, professionals, and students. KOHC members will have the opportunity to vote on the Coalition’s policy agenda for 2027.
Dental and dental hygiene CEUs will be available to current KOHC members.
Thank you to our Signature Sponsors – Aetna Better Health of Kentucky and CareQuest Institute for Oral Health for their support. Information about KOHC sponsorship opportunities can be found here
Want to earn dental CEUs for this meeting? Renew or become a member today!
