Pediatric Dentist Dr. Natalia Chalmers recently announced her resignation as Chief Dental Officer (CDO) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Dr. Chalmers, recipient of the 2025 AAPD Pediatric Dentist of the Year award, led several important initiatives since 2021 to improve dental services under Medicaid and Medicare—including:
- Adoption of the HCPCS G0330 dental rehabilitation facility fee code for dental OR cases;
- Coverage of medically necessary oral health procedures under Medicare (dental services inextricably linked to other covered medical services, such as dental exams and necessary treatments prior to organ transplants , cardiac valve replacements, and valvuloplasty procedures, and head and neck cancers);
- Implementation of an Oral Health Cross Cutting Initiative to improve access to dental services, promote preventive care and cultivate partnerships;
- Modernization to allow CMS to accept, process and pay dental claims electronically.
Dr. Chalmers announced she will be joining Overjet as Head of Clinical Innovation.
The AAPD and the Organized Dentistry Coalition (of which AAPD is a founding member) wrote to the CMS Administrator on November 21, 2025 requesting that CMS:
- Move expeditiously to recruit and appoint a new Chief Dental Officer with a DDS/DMD degree and substantial clinical, policy, and leadership experience in dentistry and oral health;
- Maintain the CDO as a senior, agency-wide position within the Office of the Administrator, with clear authority and responsibility to advise CMS leadership on all matters affecting oral health across centers and offices; and
- Provide the CDO with appropriate staff support and cross-center coordination mechanisms, so that oral health perspectives are systematically incorporated into rulemaking, guidance, demonstrations, oversight activities, and stakeholder engagement.