Biography

Clinical Assistant Professor Ashley J. Hobbs, MS, BSDH, RDH, ECP II has been teaching at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Dentistry since 2021 in the Division of Dental Hygiene. Professor Hobbs provides course directorship in the dental hygiene curriculum through Local Anesthesia and Pain Control, Senior Seminar, and Introduction to the Preventive Practice of Dental Hygiene courses. She also serves as the Junior Clinic Coordinator and is currently the Chair-Elect for the ADEA Dental Hygiene Clinic Coordinators Special Interest Group.

A passion of Ashley’s is giving back to the community. She has attended over 50 dental missions reaching national and international populations. In her free time, she has built two non-profit programs to provide preventive services to underserved populations: Elder Smiles and The Gladstone Sealant Outreach Program. Additionally, Ashley is a Clinical Director for the Special Olympics Special Smiles program, providing dental screenings and care for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Ashley was the recent recipient of the UMKC Faculty of the Year Award in 2024 as well as the UMKC Dental Hygiene Alumni Association Outstanding Service Award in 2024. In 2025, Ashley was honored with the Lecturer of the Year Award.

Her research interests include faculty calibration, clinical instruction, and teaching paradigms. She presented on the development of school-based sealant programs at a continuing education course at her professional association at the state level, spoken nationally at the American Dental Education Association 2022 conference on innovative teaching paradigms, and at the American Dental Hygienists' Association 2022 conference on her qualitative research on student perceptions of a school-based sealant program.