Becky Parnian, DHSc, RDH, MPH, CDA

Dr. Becky Parnian is a dental hygienist and public health leader with over 20 years of experience in dentistry and oral health systems improvement. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and serves as the State Dental Hygienist at the New Jersey Department of Health, where she supports statewide oral health initiatives and quality improvement efforts.

Through her doctoral training in Health Sciences, she identified a critical gap in dentistry: the limited integration of established patient safety principles compared to medicine. This insight shaped her strong commitment to advancing patient safety in dental practice and strengthening the culture of safety across the profession. To help address this gap, she founded CUSPID Institute™, a training platform dedicated to improving patient safety in dentistry through evidence-based practices adapted from medicine. The CUSPID Institute™ name is inspired by the Johns Hopkins University CUSP(Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program) model, adapted for application in Dentistry.

Her work bridges public health and clinical dentistry, supporting the integration of patient safety as a core standard of care across dental practices. She also brings a unique perspective shaped by firsthand experience with patient safety adverse events in both dental and medical settings.