Community Dental Health Coordinators: Cultural "Connectors" for Oral Health.

The American Dental Association's Community Dental Health Coordinator program was designed to teach community health worker skills to dental auxiliaries. Case management, a valued skill utilized by medical providers, is largely unknown in the dental profession. When case management is incorporated into a dental professional's practice, prevention becomes amplified, leading to decreased costs and increased access.

Healthy Futures: Engaging the oral health community in childhood obesity prevention - Conference summary and recommendations.

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem. An association between obesity and dental caries, the most prevalent disease of childhood, has been identified. One explanation for the association is that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and frequent snacking on carbohydrate-rich foods are common risk factors for development of both obesity and caries. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has been at the forefront of national efforts to promote healthy weight in children. As part of these efforts, RWJF sponsored the Healthy Futures: Engaging the Oral Health Community in Childhood Obesity Prevention National Conference, held on November 3-4, 2016, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The aim of the conference was to increase awareness of evidence-based recommendations; identify strategies; and promote collaborative efforts that oral health professionals, oral-health-related organizations, and others can employ to prevent childhood obesity. This report summarizes the findings presented at the conference and discusses their implications. The report also reviews recommendations made in the areas of research, education, and policy that resulted from the conference.

After Medicaid Expansion In Kentucky, Use Of Hospital Emergency Departments For Dental Conditions Increased.

Access to oral health care is a critical need for the adult Medicaid population. Following the 2014 expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Kentucky, millions of adults became eligible to receive dental benefits. We examined the impact of the expansion on adult Medicaid enrollees' use of hospital emergency departments (EDs) for conditions related to dental or oral health in the period 2010-14. Based on our analysis of data for Kentucky from the State Emergency Department Databases, we found that the rate of discharges for these conditions from the ED increased significantly, from 1,833 per 100,000 population in 2013 to 5,635 in 2014. Adults covered by Medicaid who used the ED for treatment of oral health conditions in 2014 had high levels of chronic comorbidities and were more likely to be male and nonwhite than those in earlier years. To avoid costly and inappropriate use of the ED, states considering adding an adult Medicaid dental benefit should consider also making changes to assist beneficiaries in obtaining access to the dental health care delivery system.

Issues faced by community health centers.

Federally qualified health centers face numerous issues with regard to marketplace competition, staffing, and reimbursement streams that assure financial viability. Positioning the dental department of a health center to a high community profile strengthens the health center in professional educational development leading to a pipeline of workforce members, effective dental directors, and innovative fund-raising. A new dental team member developed by the American Dental Association can be utilized in health centers to make all traditional auxiliaries more productive.