National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource
Center
This and past issues of the Oral Health Alert: Focus on Head Start are available at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/alert/archives.html.
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1. Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center
This website presents information resources and learning opportunities
relevant to the Head Start and early childhood development communities.
The website is built upon a foundation of online communities developed
to encourage connecting, sharing, and learning around specific topics.
Selected topics include early childhood development and health, family
and community partnerships, program design and management, and
professional development. The website also includes the Welcome Center
to help orient new community members; the Head Start Locator to assist
users in finding Head Start grantees and centers; a section for parents
that explains issues relating to parent involvement, advocacy, and
other ways to support a child's Head Start experience; and the Resource
Center, which includes a book store, cinema, and conference center
containing a variety of publication and multimedia resources,
presentations, and speeches.
Contact: Office of Head Start. 1250 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Room 800,
Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: (202) 205-8347, fax: (202) 205-9336,
website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb.
Available at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov.
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2. Evidence-Based Clinical Recommendations:
Professionally Applied Topical Fluoride
This document presents a critical evaluation of a systematic literature
search on the use of professionally applied topical fluoride (gel,
varnish, and foam). The document provides a definition of
evidence-based dentistry; the rationale for evidence-based clinical
recommendations on professionally applied topical fluoride; the
American Dental Association process for clinical recommendations, panel
conclusions, and clinical recommendations (including a discussion of
dental caries risk, a summary chart, and recommendations for additional
research). References and an appendix of term definitions are also
included.
Contact: American Dental Association, 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago,
IL 60611-2678. Telephone: (312) 440-2500; fax: (312) 440-7494; e-mail:
info@ada.org; website: http://www.ada.org.
Available at no charge from the website at http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/topics/evidencebased_fluoride.pdf.
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3. Hispanic Dental Association and Head Start:
Envisioning Future Collaborations to Improve Oral Health
This report describes a forum held on February 27, 2006, in Denver, CO,
to discuss ways that the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) could
collaborate with Head Start to address oral health issues among
Hispanic children and their families. Topics include developing the
internal capacity of HDA to work with Head Start programs, expanding
education and outreach efforts, and addressing barriers to access.
Report contents include an executive summary, background on the forum
and HDA, a national update on Head Start and oral health,
Hispanic-focused initiatives and programs, HDA's current involvement
and experiences with Head Start, maximizing opportunities for
collaboration, and recommendations and next steps. Appendices include
the forum agenda and a list of participants. [Funded by the Maternal
and Child Health Bureau]
Contact: National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center,
Georgetown University, Box 571272, Washington, DC 20057-1272.
Telephone: (202) 784-9771; fax: (202) 784-9777; e-mail:
info@mchoralhealth.org; website: http://www.mchoralhealth.org.
Available at no charge from the website at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/PDFs/HDAForum.pdf.
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4. Oral Health And Asthma Update
This issue of the Health Information Exchange, a newsletter produced
for Head Start-state collaboration directors, features articles on oral
health and asthma from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation and the
Environmental Protection Agency. Specific topics include Head Start
roles in improving the identification of asthma and helping improve
asthma control in the home, access to oral health care for children in
underserved areas, partnerships between Head Start and the Association
of State and Territorial Dental Directors, the Pacific Islands Early
Childhood Caries Prevention Project, the National Head Start Oral
Health Resource Center, and state practices from Nebraska and Arkansas.
Information on quality websites and resources for professionals and
parents are also provided.
Contact: National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Resource
Center, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1000, Arlington, VA 22209.
Telephone: (703) 243-0495; fax: (703) 243-0496; e-mail:
hsnrc@pal-tech.com; website: http://www.hsnrc.org.
Single copies available at no charge; also available at no charge from
the website at http://www.hsnrc.org/UserFiles/File/SCO_June_2006_Newsletter_FINALv3.pdf.
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5. Virginia Strategic Plan for Early Head Start and Head
Start Programs
This chart outlines oral health goals, strategies, and action steps for
Early Head Start and Head Start programs in Virginia developed in
follow-up to the forum held on September 21, 2005, in Richmond,
Virginia. The following
goals are discussed: (1) increase access to oral health care through
public and private health care providers, (2) increase access to
pediatric dentists, (3) increase state and local collaboration among
service providers to teach families the importance of oral health, (4)
increase the number of dentists participating in Medicaid, (5) increase
oral health literacy in culturally competent ways, (6) increase the
utilization of fluoride varnish for young children, and (7) implement
policies and regulatory action that will promote improved oral health
among children. Strategies and action steps for achieving each goal are
presented, along with proposed key partners, lead organization,
timelines, and resource needs.
Contact: National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center,
Georgetown University, Box 571272, Washington, DC 20057-1272.
Telephone: (202) 784-9771; fax: (202) 784-9777; e-mail:
info@mchoralhealth.org; website: http://www.mchoralhealth.org.
Available at no charge from the website at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/PDFs/VAStrategicPlanHS.pdf.
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6. Dental Safety Net: Current Capacity and Potential for
Expansion
This article defines the underserved population, examines the capacity
of the dental safety net to meet this population's needs, and reviews
some options for expanding the safety net. The authors conclude that,
even with an expanded safety net, the majority of underserved
individuals would continue to receive care in private practices. Thus,
a long-term reduction in disparities in oral health and access to oral
health care requires the private practice community to participate more
actively in caring for the underserved.
Bailit H, Beazoglou T, Demby N, McFarland J, Robinson P, Weaver R.
2006. Journal of the American Dental Association 137(6):807-815.
Abstract available at http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/abstract/137/6/807.
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7. Malnourishment in a Population of Young Children with
Severe Early Childhood Caries
This articles presents findings from a study to describe the
nutritional status of young children (ages 2-6) with severe early
childhood caries (S-ECC) and to assess the ability of several
measurements of nutritional status to detect malnutrition in these
children. All the nutrition tests detected malnourishment in children
with S-ECC. The findings further imply that S-ECC may be a risk marker
for the development of otherwise unexplained iron deficiency anemia in
young children.
Clarke M, Locker D, Berall G, Pencharz P, Kenny DJ, Judd P. 2006.
Pediatric Dentistry 28(3):254-259. Abstract available at http://www.aapd.org/searcharticles/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=2093.
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8. Motivating
Mothers to Prevent Caries: Confirming the Beneficial Effect of
Counseling
This randomized clinical trial compared the effect of a motivational
interviewing (MI) counseling visit with traditional approaches to
educating mothers of young children at high risk of developing dental
caries. After 2 years, children in the MI group exhibitied
significantly fewer cases of new caries than those in the control
group. More mothers who received MI counseling complied with
recommended fluroide varnish treatment regimens, compared with mothers
who received traditional education.
Weinstein P, Harrison R, Benton T. 2006. Journal of the American Dental
Association 137(6):789-793. Abstract available at http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/abstract/137/6/789.
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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.
This publication is made possible by grant number HIFMC06348 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 Office of Head Start (OHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and MCHB, HRSA. The publication's contents are the responsibility of solely the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of or imply endorsement by ACF, DHHS, Georgetown University, HRSA, MCHB, OHS, or OHRC.
Permission is given to forward Oral Health Alert: Focus on Head Start to individual colleagues. For all other uses, requests for permission to duplicate and use all or part of the information contained in this publication should be sent to the address below.
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: Focus on Head Start
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