Elsevier

Dental Abstracts

Volume 60, Issue 1, January–February 2015, Pages 6-8
Dental Abstracts

Commentaries
Action for dental health – dentists making a difference: A contemporary plan for disease prevention and treatment

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Initiative #1: Contracting with FQHCs

Contracting between FQHCs and private dental offices is not a new concept, as it has been done informally for years between savvy health centers and local dentists. Particularly efficient in rural areas where a bricks and mortar dental clinic could financially hamper a small health center, contracting has now become a necessity in light of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Health Centers must, by law, provide access to oral health services for their patients. This does not automatically translate

Initiative #2: Expand Give Kids a Smile and Mission of Mercy events

Since the ADA began the Give Kids a Smile program in 2002, it has become nationally recognized as a beacon promoting children's oral health education and service. While charity care is not a permanent policy game-changer, this program continues to remind legislators that oral health is a necessity that requires appropriate funding. In 2014, 1200 GKAS events provided dental care to over 400,000 children.

Mission of Mercy (MOM) projects have expanded from several per year to more than 60 annually.

Initiative #3: Hospital-ER referral programs

Adults with dental pain are frequently unaware of how or where to access existing dental services. Current data reflects potential savings of over a billion dollars per year when dental pain is deflected from hospital ERs into dental homes.

The ADA has identified five models of programs, which successfully divert dental patients from ERs into offices where definitive solutions exist:

  • 1.

    The Dentists' Partnership: Now in its eighth year, this model currently has 46 private practitioners, a strong

Initiative #4: Community water fluoridation

The well-established benefits of community water fluoridation are widely known. As the recent election cycle revealed, many communities support this health measure enthusiastically.

With the 70th anniversary of community water fluoridation approaching in 2015, there is renewed effort on the part of the ADA to expand water fluoridation to more communities. The ADA National Fluoridation Advisory Committee continues to monitor fluoridation challenges around the country and offer customized

Initiative #5: Reducing the administrative burden of participating in Medicaid – The business case

According to data collected by the Health Policy Institute, traditional dental insurance is not showing a strong growth pattern. It is Medicaid coverage that is growing and presenting new business considerations by dentists.

The ADA is working to educate its members on unintentional non-compliance, thus avoiding fraud and abuse allegations. The ADA is providing technical assistance to state dental associations through a definitive ten-step program to enhance state dental Medicaid programs.

Initiative #6: Dentistry in long-term care

Vulnerable elderly patients in assisted living and long-term care facilities have unique oral health issues, which present challenging opportunities for dentists to expand their patient population. The ADA has developed an eight-module continuing education series to assist dental providers in developing their understanding and ease in knowing how to successfully treat these patients and operate an effective long-term dental program.

Initiative #7: Community dental health coordinator

A Community Dental Health Coordinator (CDHC) is a community health worker with dental knowledge and skills. This new member of the dental team may be a dental hygienist, dental assistant, social worker, or lay person, who enrolls in an online curriculum, performs a community-based internship and receives a certificate of completion.

This program began in 2006 leading to the development of a three-year pilot series of training and studies, which concluded in December of 2012. An analysis of the

Initiative #8: Medical – dental collaboration

As the trend of physician compensation linked to patient outcomes continues, the heightened interest in interprofessional aspects of patient care also progresses.

Good oral health, especially good periodontal health, has been linked to healthy pregnancies, stable hemoglobin A1-C levels in diabetic patients and lower risk for post op infection after cardiac bypass procedures.

Dialysis coordinators, transplant teams and other surgical specialties are now asking for dental clearance for patients

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