National
Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center
This and past issues of the Oral Health Alert are available at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/alert/archives.html.
1. The Health and Well-Being
of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2005 (chartbook)
2. Reaching All Children?
Understanding Early Care and Education Participation Among Immigrant Families
(paper)
3. Studying and Tracking
Early Child Development from a Health Perspective: A Review of Available
Data Sources (report)
4. A Framework for
Service Learning in Dental Education (journal article)
5. Simulating Cost-Effectiveness
of Fluoride Varnish During Well-Child Visits for Medicaid-Enrolled Children
(journal article)
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1. The Health and Well-Being of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2005
This chartbook provides an overview of children's broad health characteristics, brings together national and state-level data for the first time, and points to a need to improve access to health care for children from low-income families, children with no health insurance, and children with special health care needs. The chartbook is based on data from the National Survey of Children's Health and focuses on measures of children's physical and mental health, health care (including preventive dental visits), and general well-being as it relates to children's families, schools, and neighborhoods. Information for each state, easy-to-follow bar graphs, and breakdown analyses by race and ethnicity are included.
Contact: HRSA Information Center, 22815 Glenn Drive, Suite 103, Sterling, VA 20164. Telephone: (888) ASK-HRSA (275-4772); (877) 474-4772; fax: (703) 821-2098; e-mail: ask@hrsa.gov; Web site: http://www.ask.hrsa.gov. Available at no charge. Document inventory code: HRSA Info. Ctr. MCH00186. Also available at no charge from the Web site at http://www.mchb.hrsa.gov/thechild/index.htm.
2. Reaching All Children? Understanding Early Care and Education Participation Among Immigrant Families
This paper summarizes evidence about the participation of young children of immigrants in early care and education programs as well as relevant demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of immigrant families that likely influence children's participation in early learning programs. Topics include the current immigration context; participation among children of immigrants in preschool, center-based care, and kindergarten (including Head Start); and the effect of demographics, limited English proficiency, and immigration status and citizenship on participation in preschool and center-based care. Policy recommendations for state and local administrators or pre-kindergarten and other early care and education programs are proposed, as are areas for additional research.
Contact: Center for Law and Social Policy, 1015 15th Street, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005. Telephone: (202) 906-8000; fax: (202) 842-2885; e-mail: info@clasp.org; Web site: http://www.clasp.org. Available at no charge from the Web site at http://www.clasp.org/publications/child_care_immigrant.pdf (paper); http://www.clasp.org/publications/childcare_immigrantfamilies_brief.pdf (brief).
3. Studying and Tracking Early Child Development from a Health Perspective: A Review of Available Data Sources
This report presents an analysis of 26 national data sources for their capacity to inform child health policy and practice efforts to promote healthy early childhood development. The report provides an overview of existing areas of strength, identifies gaps, and makes recommendations for future data development. An appendix summarizing the content of some 26 surveys and administrative databases that can be used to support social indicator data and research on early development is provided (e.g., oral care receipt for children from birth to age 5 from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey).
Contact: Commonwealth Fund, One East 75th Street, New York, NY 10021. Telephone: (212) 606-3800; fax: (212) 606-3500; e-mail: cmwf@cmwf.org; Web site: http://www.cmwf.org. Available at no charge from the Web site at http://www.cmwf.org/usr_doc/888_Brown_studying_tracking_early_child_dev.pdf.
4. A Framework for Service Learning in Dental Education
This article offers a framework for service-learning in dental education, a form of experiential education that brings community engagement and educational objectives together. The article describes 10 components that characterize service-learning, for example, academic links to locations for nonclinical experiences, including Head Start programs.
Yoder, KM. 2006. A framework for service-learning in dental education. Journal of Dental Education 70(2):115-123. Abstract available at http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/content/abstract/70/2/115?etoc.
5. Simulating Cost-Effectiveness of Fluoride Varnish During Well-Child Visits for Medicaid-Enrolled Children
This study examined the cost effectiveness of fluoride varnish application by physicians using a well-child periodicity schedule to prevent the occurrence and progression of early-stage dental caries in a high-risk population. Based on probabilities and costs derived from the literature and other secondary sources, the findings suggest that during the first 3 years of life, providing universal fluoride applications to Medicaid-enrolled children, rather than not applying such applications, may not result in cost savings. However, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (cost per cavity-free months) decreased with time, approaching cost savings by age 48 months.
Quinonez RB, Stearns SC, Talekar BS, Rozier RG, Downs SM. 2006. Simulating cost-effectiveness of fluoride varnish during well-child visits for Medicaid-enrolled children. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 160(2):164-170. Abstract available at http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/160/2/164.
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The Oral Health Alert: Focus on Head Start is administered by the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) at Georgetown University.
The Oral Health Alert is made possible by grant number IHIFMC06348 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This funding is part of an intra-agency agreement between the Head Start Bureau (HSB) and MCHB. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of MCHB/HRSA, HSB, or DHHS.
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We welcome your submissions, suggestions, and questions. Please contact us at the address below.
Managing Editor: Katrina Holt, M.P.H., M.S.,
R.D.
Writer/Administrator: Jolene Bertness, M.Ed.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A.
Oral Health Alert
National Maternal and Child
Oral Health Resource Center
Georgetown University
Box 571272
Washington, DC 20057-1272
Phone: (202) 784-9771
Fax: (202) 784-9777
E-mail: OHAlertadmin@mchoralhealth.org
Internet: http://www.mchoralhealth.org/alert/index.html