Oral Health and School Readiness and Performance

This fact sheet provides information about why it is important for children and adolescents to have good oral health to succeed in school. It provides information about the impact of tooth decay on school attendance, the number of children and adolescents who missed at least one school day due to oral health problems in the past year, and the cost to school districts of students missing school days. Information on how parents can help ensure that their child has a healthy mouth and teeth and is successful in school is also presented.

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This tip sheet provides an overview of the Head Start program and describes why oral health is important for school readiness. It also discusses the oral health services that Head Start programs offer and what dental hygienists can do to help.

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This tip sheet provides an overview of the Head Start program and describes why oral health is important for school readiness. It also discusses the oral health services that Head Start programs offer and what dentists can do to help.

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This tip sheet provides an overview of the Head Start program and describes why oral health is important for school readiness. It also discusses the oral health services that Head Start programs offer and what health professionals can do to help.

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This series of tip sheets is intended for Head Start staff to use to support the oral health of children and pregnant people enrolled in Head Start programs and their families. The tip sheets include up-to-date practices and practical tips to promote good oral health. Health and social service professionals interested in improving the oral health of children and pregnant people enrolled in Head Start and their families may also find Brush Up on Oral Health tip sheets helpful.

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• Spanish

This guide presents activity-based oral health lessons and resources for kindergarten and first grade classroom teachers. The lessons are designed to be integrated into curricula. Each lesson includes a summary, a learning goal, guidelines for how to prepare the lesson, and ideas for how students can share what they learned with their family. Resources such as a video, storybook, and wall chart are included.

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This teaching strategy, which is geared toward school nurses, focuses on developing oral health competencies to educate parents and children about the importance of oral health and oral hygiene, fluoride, and having a dental home. It also provides information about how to recognize abnormalities in the mouth. The strategy includes an overview, learning objectives, learner pre-work, suggested learning activities, and suggested reading.

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• Resource Website

This report is designed to help Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) grantees and federally qualified health centers establish partnerships that increase access to oral health services for children in MSHS and their families. The report provides information about MSHS programs, oral health in the programs, and the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Health Center Program. Topics include Head Start, oral health, oral health care, financing oral health care, and planning.

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• Website

This report offers recommendations to strengthen the safety net for children. It describes health barriers to learning, including oral pain and untreated dental caries, and the evidence base for the impact of these barriers on academic success. For each barrier, the report describes the prevalence; the extent of unmet need for services to identify, manage, and treat the barrier; the impact of the barrier on learning; and key points.

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This series of handouts for pregnant women and parents of infants and young children provides simple tips on nutrition and oral health issues. Topics include brushing a young child’s teeth, choosing healthy drinks, encouraging children to drink water with fluoride, giving children healthy snacks, taking care of oral health for pregnant women, and taking care of an infant’s oral health. The series is written in simple language and is available in English and in Spanish. One handout, Using Silver Diamine Fluoride on Children's Teeth, is also available in Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Persian, and Somali.

• English
• Spanish