Vacharee Peterson, DDS, is the co-founder and former CEO of Community Dental Carein Minnesota. Established in 1982 with her husband, Andrew Peterson, DDS, CommunityDental Care has allowed Dr. Peterson to focus on her career-long commitment to servingimmigrant, refugee and low-income families.In 1992, Dr. Peterson founded Cavity Free Kids, a preventive care company promotingdental health in children. Cavity Free Kids provides professional educational programs onclinical pediatric dentistry. Over 1,500 dentists, 300 dental assistants and 200 hygienists nationwide have participated in her workshops.Dr. Peterson has invented a number of products to improve dental care for children. Thepatented PedoBurrito is a security device that allows dentists to treat young childrenwithout the use of sedation or general anesthesia. Over 300 PedoBurritos have been soldnationwide. ToothPaintis a low-fluoride topical solution for children for home use. Dr.Peterson also received a patent for a double-headed toothbrush. She has developededucational literature for parents including Baby Teeth Handbook, a comprehensivebooklet for parents of young children, and other pamphlets on baby bottle-caused toothdecay and oral hygiene. In 2017, Dr. Peterson developed and manufactured Babys First Brush, a specially designed toothbrush for infants and toddlers.
In 2005, Dr. Peterson received the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce/Wells Fargo Asian Business Leadership Award. This award honors the nations leadingAsian small business owners for their vision, success, and community contributions. In2005, Dr. Peterson was nominated by Bremer Bank and selected as an honoree of theMinneapolis/St. Paul Business Journals Minority Business Guide in recognition of beingone of the Twin Cities top minority business owners. In 2012, she was awarded theHumanitarian Service Award by the Minnesota Dental Association for extraordinaryhumanitarian service to the local and global community. In 2014, she received theMinnesota Department of Healths Lou Fuller Award for Distinguished Service in Eliminating Health Disparities. In 2015, Dr. Peterson championed the Early DentalDisease Prevention Initiative which became official legislation in Minnesota. In 2016, Dr.Peterson and her team launched the Minnesota Cavity Free Kids Program at CommunityDental Care. The goals of the Minnesota Cavity Free Kids Program are that all childrenwill have access to preventive oral health care, recognize the importance of oral health,adopt healthy habits that support it, and grow up cavity free.
Dr. Peterson was born in Thailand and received her BA in Chemistry from BethelCollege in 1973. She obtained her DDS degree from the University of Minnesota Schoolof Dentistry in 1982.She is a member of the American Dental Association, MinnesotaDental Association (MDA), St. Paul District Dental Society, Safety Net Coalition,Olmsted County Childrens Oral Health Task Force, and is an associate member of theAmerican Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Peterson is a past member of the MinnesotaDepartment of Human Services Advisory Committee for Dental Access. She wasawarded the Distinguished Alumni Award in Community Service from Bethel College in1988. She served as Chair for the Urban Safety Net Committee of the MDA and as Chairfor the Thai Church of Minnesota Board of Directors.