NMCOHRC: Oral Health Resource Center Update: November 2024

November 20, 2024

New from OHRC

The following news and resources are featured by the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC).

 


OHRC and ASTDD Awarded the Consortium for Oral Health
The Consortium for Oral Health, (consortium) led by OHRC working in collaboration with the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD), promotes evidence-based/-informed information and resources to increase access to and use of oral health care to improve oral health and ultimately oral health equity for the maternal and child health (MCH) population. The consortium is funded by a 4-year cooperative agreement from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration to provide services to federal agencies; national organizations; state Title V MCH programs, state oral health programs, and other state organizations; community-based programs; and professionals working in or with state MCH and oral health programs. 

To accelerate the adoption and implementation of integrated preventive oral health care strategies that aim to advance oral health, the consortium translates evidence to practice through resource development and dissemination.

Eight States Awarded Maternal and Child Health—Improving Oral Health Integration (MCH-IOHI) Projects


The consortium provides technical assistance to the new MCHB-funded, 4-year cooperative agreements (2024–2028) for the Maternal and Child Health—Improving Oral Health Integration Projects (MCH-IOHI). The projects' aim is to advance the integration of preventive oral health care into primary care to make oral health care more accessible to the MCH population. Funding supports an MCH-IOHI alliance (alliance), to include key state stakeholders such as policy, practice, and public health leaders; health professionals; health care payers; and public health surveillance experts. The alliance is implementing a two-tier, state-level and local-level improvement approach in eight states: Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, New York, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Building State Capacity for Integration Learning Collaborative


In October 2024, the consortium selected five state oral health programs—Idaho, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia—to participate in the MCHB-funded Building State Capacity for Integration (BSCI) Learning Collaborative (LC), a 16-month project focused on improving systems-level capacity for integrating oral health care and prenatal care. During the LC, project teams will gather to share ideas and learn from one another. The consortium will offer technical assistance to help teams develop a practical action plan, monitor progress, overcome challenges, and report on achievements. 

Capacity inventory categories
Using the Capacity Inventory for Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care for Pregnant Women: Tool, project teams will assess systems-level capacity factors, prioritize needs, and create action plans to enhance integrating oral health care and prenatal care in their states. The LC will run from January 2025 through April 2026. A second LC is planned to run from October 2026 through January 2028. 

NOHI overview and profiles

Latest NOHI Overview and Project Profiles


OHRC is pleased to announce the availability of Networks for Oral Health Integration (NOHI) Within the MCH Safety Net: Overview and Project Profiles—Update 2024. Three projects were awarded funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau for a 5 year period (2019–2024) to improve access to and use of oral health care for pregnant women, infants, and children at high risk for oral disease.
The projects were charged with developing, implementing, and evaluating models of care. The report provides information about each specific project, including project partners, approach, settings, models of care, strategies to help sustain models of care in community health centers (CHCs), and core function activities. 

Congratulations
OHRC congratulates the three networks who have completed their work. Despite a global pandemic, the NOHI projects implemented their models of care in 88 primary care clinics within selected CHCs in 11 states and Washington, DC and provided over 1,300 primary care providers, community health workers, and care coordinators with training on preventive oral health care and on the key components of integrating oral health care into primary care. Participating CHCs provided over 369,700 preventive oral health services to infants and children during the project period.
Find more information about the NOHI projects including resources, such as community health center assessments, environmental scans to inform policy change at the state level, and training tools online. And, an article about the Rocky Mountain Network of Oral Health experience has just been published.

Welcome, Jenna Linden, to OHRC and the Office of Head Start National Center for Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety

We are very pleased to welcome Jenna Linden, R.D.H., B.S.D.H., CDHC to the OHRC team. Jenna serves as health education specialist at OHRC for the National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety project. Jenna develops educational materials and conducts national and regional training for Head Start staff, families, and health professionals.

Before joining OHRC, Jenna dedicated her dental hygiene career to public health, successfully leading pioneering oral-health-promotion and oral-disease-prevention initiatives for children and expectant families. Her commitment to innovation is reflected in her efforts in community-based oral health advocacy, the implementation of successful school-based oral health programs, and the promotion of integrating oral health care with primary care. You can talk to Jenna about Head Start programs, Dental Hygienists Liaison project, oral health promotion and oral disease prevention, and interprofessional collaboration.

Spotlighted Resources

Resource Spotlight

Aspirin Use to Prevent Preeclampsia and Related Morbidity and Mortality: Preventive Medication--Final Recommendation Statement

This report provides U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for the use of low-dose aspirin to prevent preeclampsia in pregnant women. Information about other related issues is also offered. Topics include the importance of using low-dose aspirin to prevent preeclampsia, recognition of risk status, assessment of net benefit, practice considerations, an update of previous USPSTF recommendations, supporting evidence, and research needs and gaps.

Each month, find new spotlighted resources from our digital library on our website. 

In the News

School Fluoride Varnish Delivery Programs Recommended

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends school fluoride varnish delivery programs to prevent dental caries (tooth decay) among school-aged children (preschool through high school). Evidence shows that these programs, implemented primarily in communities with lower incomes and high rates of tooth decay among children, achieve meaningful rates of student participation, increase the number of treatments received, reduce dental caries, and reduce disparities in onset of tooth decay by income and other social determinants of health.
 

DQA Releases 2025 Measure Specifications

The Dental Quality Alliance (DQA) has released its annual update of measure sets with specifications. DQA measures address prevention and disease management to promote oral health for both children and adults. The 2024 adult and pediatric user guides and technical specifications have been published and are now available. These documents provide detailed guidance on the use and implementation of DQA quality measures. 
 

100 Million Mouths Campaign Now in 26 States

The 100 Million Mouths Campaign (100MMC) is an initiative of the Harvard Center for Integration of Primary Care and Oral Health. It strives to create fifty oral health education champions over the next decade, one in each state, to work with health professional schools and programs to integrate oral health into their curricula to bridge gaps in oral health access. The campaign has already trained over 9,000 individuals in oral health and over 2,000 individuals in the application of fluoride varnish. Review 100MMC's current oral health champions and apply to be a champion in your state.

Oral Health Learning Café


OHRC's Oral Health Learning Café is an informal, supportive space for professionals to engage with others about integrating oral health and primary care. From September 2024 through January 2025, representatives from each of the five programs included in the report, Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care: Five Successful, Long-Standing, Statewide Programs Providing Care for the Maternal and Child Health Population, will join the Learning Café webinars to present and engage in discussion. In December, the presentation will be about the I-Smile Dental Home Initiative and Cavity Free Iowa. Register for the webinar. Visit our website to register for future programs. You can also subscribe to the discussion list to receive announcements about upcoming webinars and the monthly Integration Alert.
URL: 
https://www.mchoralhealth.org/