Tamanna Tiwari named Chair of Primary Dental Care

Tamanna Tiwari, MPH, MDS, BDS, is the Chair of the Department of Primary Dental Care, effective July 1, 2025. Dean Keith A. Mays, DDS, MS, PhD, announced the position in an email to the School of Dentistry community in June.

Tiwari is an internationally recognized leader in dental public health, with expertise in behavioral sciences, social determinants of health, and oral health equity. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Dental Surgery from Bharati Vidyapeeth University in India, and a Master of Public Health in Global Health Leadership from New York University. She previously served as associate professor in the Department of Community Dentistry and Population Health, program director of the DDS/MPH program and associate director of the Center for Oral Disease Prevention and Population Health Research at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine.

An accomplished scholar and advocate, Tiwari has authored several peer-reviewed publications and led more than a dozen major grants examining oral health disparities in Indigenous, Hispanic and other underserved populations. She chairs the Oral Health Section of the American Public Health Association and currently serves as Board Chair of the American Institute for Dental Public Health.

Tiwari will take over the role from Sheila Riggs, DDS, MS, DMSc, who has served as Chair since 2009. Riggs received her Doctorate in Medical Sciences from Harvard in the 1990s and began her career as an assistant professor of oral epidemiology and health policy at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She later served as CEO of Delta Dental of Minnesota. An academic and policy leader, Riggs has navigated an influential career as a dentist, epidemiologist, academic, corporate executive and policy advocate. She will remain in her faculty role as associate professor of dental public health and Interim Director of Continuing Dental Education.

“Dr. Riggs has provided leadership to the school’s clinical programs while also working as a fierce advocate for oral health care access, solutions and innovation for the people of Minnesota and beyond,” Mays reflected in an email to faculty, staff and students. “I am grateful for her tireless efforts and for the impact she has left on our community. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Tiwari and in thanking Dr. Riggs for her service.”