CATHY J. GRINHAM, RDH
INNOVATOR AWARD
INNOVATOR AWARD
Leading the Visiting Dental Associates of Massachusetts as Executive Director, Cathy J. Grinham provides preventive oral health directly on-site to those in desperate need through the use of a patented portable system she invented to deliver digital panoramic dental images. As a dental hygienist who worked primarily in private practices and then at Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Grinham had been concerned about the volume of people unable to access dental care due to location, financial constraints, or mental and physical limitations. In 2010, when the Massachusetts Dental Hygiene Association passed a bill allowing Public Health Dental Hygienists to provide direct care, she applied to become one of the state’s first in this role, and accomplished her goal after being awarded a grant provided by UMass Memorial and DentaQuest, LLC. Inspired, she founded Visiting Dental Associates of Massachusetts, LLC to guide Registered Dental Hygienists on the same path. An Assonet resident, she is an active member of the American Dental Hygiene Association and Massachusetts Dental Hygiene Association.