Oral Health – School-Based Health Alliance

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Why address oral health in SBHCs?

Oral health is critical to overall health, yet tooth decay is one of the most chronic childhood diseases in the United States. Poor oral health affects children’s quality of life, school performance, and success later in life. Cavities (tooth decay) are preventable, yet by age 8, over half of the children (52%) have had a cavity in their primary teeth. Untreated cavities can cause pain and infections, leading to problems with eating, speaking, playing, and learning. Children with oral health problems miss more school and receive lower grades than children who don’t. Low-income families’ children are twice as likely to have cavities as children from higher-income families.

How do SBHCs address oral health?

School-based health centers can positively impact students’ oral health in many ways.

Provide parent/guardian education on the importance of oral health assessment and evidence-based practices such as dental sealants and fluoride varnish.
Support oral health education in the classroom, including dental hygiene and the connection between oral health and overall health.
Provide oral health education, screening, assessment for early detection, onsite care when possible, and referral assistance as needed.
Coordinate with dental sealant and fluoride varnish programs or provide them in the SBHC, depending on the scope of practice and state laws.
Coordinate with community providers to develop a dental home for students.
Work with mental health providers, as there is a strong connection between oral health and mental health (anxiety, eating disorders, depression.)

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Want further assistance implementing and improving oral health in your SBHC?

Together, our consulting team brings more than 250 years of combined experience in planning, implementing, operating, evaluating, and improving community-provided school-based health care, including school-based health centers (SBHCs). Learn more about consulting services here.

Expert Oral Health Partners

National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center

A national center serving the maternal and child health community with high-quality oral health technical assistance and resources, including the School-Based Dental Sealant Programs: Second Edition

Center for Disease Control and Prevention Oral Health

CDC is the nation’s leading science-based, data-driven, service organization that protects the public’s health. For more than 70 years, we’ve put science into action to help children stay healthy so they can grow and learn; to help families, businesses, and communities fight disease and stay strong; and to protect the public’s health. The website includes facts, infographics, children oral health specific tools and resources, and publications.

Oral Health in America

Advances and Challenges: Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges is a culmination of two years of research and writing by over 400 contributors. As a follow-up to the Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health in America, this report explores the nation's oral health over the last 20 years. The report includes unique sections on Oral Health across the Lifespan: Children, a section on Oral Health across the Lifespan: Adolescents, and a section on Pain, Mental Illness, Substance Use, and Oral Health.

Association of State & Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD)

The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) is a national non-profit organization representing the directors and staff of state/territorial public health agency programs for oral health. ASTDD formulates and promotes the establishment of national dental public health policy, assists state/territorial dental programs in the development and implementation of programs and policies for the prevention of oral diseases; builds awareness, and strengthens dental public health professionals' knowledge and skills by developing position papers and policy statements; provides information on oral health to health officials and policymakers, and conducts conferences for the dental public health community.

Best Pratice Approach

Smiles for Life: A national oral health curriculum

The Smiles for Life curriculum consists of eight 60-minute modules covering core areas of oral health relevant to health professionals. User competencies are measured through assessments at course completion. There is a Child Oral Health course of study.

Oral Health Nursing Education and Practice (OHNEP)

OHNEP is at the vanguard of helping nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, nurses, and other health professionals incorporate oral health into clinical education and patient care. As a national voice promoting interprofessional oral health integration and oral health equity, OHNEP advocates, educates, creates, and promotes interprofessional resources that educators and clinicians can use to improve the quality of oral health care in their patients. The OHNEP website serves as a knowledge center and portal for best practices.

American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA)

ADHA is the leading national organization for the more than 120,000 registered dental hygienists (RDHs) in the United States. The mission of the ADHAis to advance the art and science of dental hygiene by ensuring access to quality oral health care, increasing awareness of the cost-effective benefits of prevention, promoting the highest standards of dental hygiene education, licensure, practice, and research, representing and promoting the interests of dental hygienists. ADHA has a Council on Public Health.

American Network of Oral Health Coalitions

The American Network of Oral Health Coalitions (ANOHC) is a network designed to support the work of statewide oral health coalitions across the country.

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