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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Special
Notices:
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) has announced the
first six states to enter the network development phase to provide
dental homes to children in Head Start. The states include Connecticut,
Maryland, Tennessee, Michigan, Texas, and Washington. Variables
considered in the selection of the pilot states included population,
geographic size, population density and percentage of rural and rural
remote areas, Medicaid rules and reimbursement, representation of
Region XI grantees (American Indian and Alaskan Native), and
representation of Region XII grantees (migrant and seasonal
farmworkers). More information about AAPD's Head Start Dental
Initiative is available at http://www.aapd.org.
The Children's Dental Health Project (CDHP) in collaboration with the
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP), the
Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD), the
Medicaid/SCHIP Dental Association (MSDA), and the National Academy for
State Health Policy (NASHP), was awarded a 3-year cooperative agreement
from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and
Services Administration. The National Oral Health Policy Center at CDHP
will work jointly with AMCHP, ASTDD, MSDA, and NASHP to promote a
better understanding of effective policy options to address disparities
in children's oral health. The policy center intends to publish policy
trend reports, train policymakers on how to address oral health, and
expand and diversify the audience engaged in promoting children's oral
health. More information is available at http://www.cdhp.org.
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1. Healthy Teeth and Happy Smiles: Information for Parents
This Web site contains information and resources for parents about
keeping their infant's or child's teeth healthy. Content includes
information on primary and permanent teeth, gums, tooth anatomy, and
taking children to the dentist. The site also provides lists of
children’s books and Web sites. Additional resources address nutrition,
healthy snacks, oral habits (tooth grinding, pacificer and thumb
sucking), and oral health problems (tooth sensitivity, bad breath, and
canker sores).
Contact: University of Michigan, School of Dentistry, 1011 North
University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1078. Telephone: (734) 763-6933;
Web site: http://www.dent.umich.edu.
Available at no charge from the Web site at http://www.dent.umich.edu/teachoralhealth/parents.
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2. Medicaid Portability in the Context of Oral Health
Care for Head Start–Enrolled Children in Migrant Farmworker Families
This analysis looks at opportunities and challenges in addressing
Medicaid eligibility and enrollment for children of migrant and
seasonal farmworkers. It examines Medicaid portability, that is, the
ability of Medicaid services to "follow the child" from one state to
another. The analysis presents an overview of Medicaid eligibility and
enrollment and approaches to increasing Medicaid enrollment and
portability for children in Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs,
using Head Start programs as a mechanism for identifying and enrolling
children in Medicaid. [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; Web
site: http://www.mchoralhealth.org.
Available at no charge from the Web site at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/PDFs/MedicaidPortability.pdf.
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3. Minnesota Community Collaborative Practice Head Start
Oral Health Model: A Strong Start and Guide for the Future
This document describes Minnesota's efforts to implement the Community
Collaborative Practice Head Start Oral Health Model to expand the role
of allied oral health professionals to increase compliance with the
federal Head Start program performance standards. The document includes
a timeline of policy and regulatory initiatives, evaluation methods,
and recommendations. It also presents Minnesota Head Start program
performance standard reporting data as they compare with national data;
data on preventive services for Head Start children provided by
collaborative dental hygienists; and data on (1) the value of the
services of both dentists and collaborative practice dental hygienists,
(2) the value of working with a collaborative practice agreement, (3)
the difficulty of finding medical and oral health care for children,
and (4) program interest in developing the collaborative practice
model, as perceived by Head Start health coordinators.
Contact: Minnesota Head Start Association, 904 Valley Drive, Duluth, MN
55804. Telephone: (218) 728-1091; e-mail: info@mnheadstart.org; Web site:
http://www.mnheadstart.org.
Available at no charge from the Web site. http://www.mnheadstart.org/HS08%20REPORT6%20KEYLINE.pdf.
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4. Effects of Enrollment in Medicaid Versus the State
Children's Health Insurance Program on Kindergarten Children's
Untreated Dental Caries
This study compared levels of untreated dental caries in children
enrolled in public insurance programs with those in children not
enrolled in such programs to determine the impact of public dental
insurance and the type of plan (Medicaid vs. State Children's Health
Insurance Program [SCHIP]) on untreated dental caries in children. The
authors found that children enrolled in public insurance were 1.7 times
more likely to have untreated dental caries, compared with their
counterparts who were not enrolled. Children enrolled in SCHIP were
significantly less likely to have any untreated dental caries than were
those enrolled in Medicaid.
Brickhouse TH, Rozier RG, Slade GD. 2008. American Journal of Public
Health 98(5):876-881. Abstract available at http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/5/876.
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5. Pacifier Use: A Systematic Review of Selected
Parenting Web Sites
This study evaluated content related to pacifier use available from
selected Web sites for parents. Searches for pacifier-related content
conducted in Febuary 2006 identified 16 Web sites. Two checklists were
used to evaluate the quality of the Web sites and to describe content
related to pacifier use. A majority of the Web sites met the quality
measures for online information. The study's findings suggest that
pacifier information that parents are accessing from these Web sites is
representative of what is found within the literature.
Cornelius AN, D'Auria JP, Wise LM. 2008. Journal of Pediatric Health
Care 22(3):159-165. Abstract available at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ymph/article/S0891-5245(07)00172-1/abstract.
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