Consortium Partners OHRC and ASTDD Team Up to Produce New Resources
Two new resources have been produced by the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) and OHRC, partners in the Consortium for Oral Health project funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Best Practice Approach: Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care aims to increase awareness and promotion of oral health care and primary care integration. It includes 12 practice examples illustrating integration strategies that draw on proven health outcomes attributed to integration. Numerous national, state, and local programs and initiatives have successfully implemented oral health care and primary care integration that recognize and address the connections between oral health and overall health.
Policy Statement: Silver Diamine Fluoride–A Non-Restorative Treatment for Dental Decay provides background information about silver diamine fluoride's (SDF’s) safety and efficacy, its limitations, and clinical considerations. It discusses SDF's use as an interim dental caries management strategy, use in non-traditional settings, and the roles state and territorial oral health programs and their partners can play to support SDF implementation.
Best Practice Approach: Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care
Silver Diamine Fluoride: A Non-Restorative Treatment for Dental Decay
Learn About Oral Health and Special Health Care Needs
MCHB is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents with special health care needs (SHCN) through partnerships at the federal, state, and local levels. These children and adolescents have chronic conditions, such as autism or asthma, and often need more services and supports than their peers. At least 30% of MCH Services Block Grant funds are allocated to programs for children and youth with special health care needs. MCHB funds Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs. MCHB funds and directs the National Survey of Children’s Health, the largest national and state-level survey on the health and health care needs of children ages 0–17, their families, and their communities.
HRSA Maternal & Child Health - Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN)
MCHB also funds projects like the Consortium for Oral Health to provide technical assistance to the field and to develop and disseminate resources for and about the MCH community, including children and adolescents with SHCN and their families.
OHRC resources include:
- Special Care: An Oral Health Professional’s Guide to Serving Children with Special Health Care Needs, a distance learning curriculum that provides oral health professionals with information about children with special health care needs and oral health, oral health supervision, prevention of oral disease, and behavior guidance. The curriculum can be taken for continuing education credit at no charge or for no credit (self-assessment).
- Strategies for improving the oral health system of care for children and youth with special health care needs, a tip sheet with strategies for health professionals in planning, developing, and implementing state and local efforts to ensure access to oral health care for children and adolescents with SHCN.
View these titles from our library and find more on our topic page about children and adolescents with SHCN.
This brief uses data from the National Survey of Children’s Health to compare the oral health challenges experienced by children with SHCN, including those with medical complexity (MC), to those experienced by children without SHCN. Statistical information is presented on the prevalence of and risk for chronic oral health problems among children with SHCN, children with SHCN and MC, and children without SHCN. [Produced by NORC at the University of Chicago]
This fact sheet provides an analysis of three datasets from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health and discusses what the data reveal about oral health inequities among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The fact sheet also discusses what the data show and suggest. [Produced by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health]
OHRC Spotlighted Resources from the OHRC Library
Resource Spotlight
This report provides ASTDD’s purpose, mission, vision, values, and beliefs. It also highlights key 2025 accomplishments and discusses ASTDD’s committees, communities of practice, and focus areas. Other topics include funders and partners, membership, financials, and the board of directors.
In the News
Pilot Program Report on Increasing Medicaid Participation in Dentistry
A new report from the American Dental Association (ADA), Increasing Medicaid Participation in Dentistry: A Blueprint from a Six-State Pilot Program, demonstrates that collaboration among state dental associations, Medicaid agencies, managed care organizations, oral health coalitions and other stakeholders can help increase dentist participation in Medicaid and expand access to oral health care for beneficiaries. The report summarizes the results of a two-year initiative led by the ADA Council on Advocacy and Access for Prevention. Beginning in 2023, the pilot brought together stakeholders in Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Dakota to identify and implement strategies to improve Medicaid participation among dentists and increase utilization of dental services by Medicaid beneficiaries.
Call for Comment: Interim Report on Oral Health Inspection Visit by Age 1
The Dental Quality Alliance (DQA) calls for review of its interim report on the DQA Oral Health Inspection Visit by Age 1 measure testing project. The purpose of this report is to update all interested parties on the measure’s specifications and to highlight key findings and decisions to date, as well as provide an overview of the testing process. This measure assesses the percentage of children who receive an oral health inspection, (including oral evaluations, assessments and screenings) by age 1. It is designed to evaluate how effectively children are connected to early oral health care through both dental and medical providers, supporting the prevention and early identification of dental disease during a critical period of development. DQA asks that you review the report and provide your comments via email by August 5, 2026.
Request for Information for NIDCR Strategic Plan 2027-2031
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) has released a Request for Information (RFI), NOT-DE-26-015, Inviting Comments and Suggestions on Topic Areas for the NIDCR Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2027–2031. As NIDCR begins developing its next strategic plan, the community is invited to help shape the future of dental, oral, and craniofacial research. NIDCR is seeking input from researchers, clinicians, professional societies, patient advocacy organizations, federal partners, industry, and members of the public on research priorities, emerging opportunities, and critical needs that will inform the Institute's strategic directions for FY 2027–2031. Submit comments using this webform. Responses are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, September 14, 2026.