Many students who receive dental sealants in school-based dental sealant programs do not have a regular source of oral health care (a dental home). Programs can facilitate the establishment of a dental home by linking students with oral health needs to the broader oral health care community. To accomplish this, programs need a process for notifying parents about their child’s oral health needs and for helping parents find a dentist for their child, if they don’t have one.
The first step is to identify and cultivate relationships with referral sources in the community. The state dental society, the state office of oral health, community and migrant health centers, public health clinics, hospital-based dental programs, school-based health centers, dental schools, comprehensive portable dental programs, and dentists in private practice may be able to aid in the establishment of a dental home.
Program administrators may wish to prepare a referral list of oral health professionals in the community that is organized by neighborhood. The list should indicate which dentists and safety net dental clinics (e.g., community health centers, hospitals) accept Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). For dentists and safety net dental clinics that do not accept Medicaid or CHIP but are willing to treat students from families with low incomes, the list should indicate the terms of payment.
It is also helpful to develop a list of dentists or safety net dental clinics willing to provide emergency care to students with urgent problems (e.g., pain, swelling, infection). Provisions of this care may not result in the establishment of the student’s dental home, but they will at least receive treatment for urgent problems.
Most safety net entities that provide oral health care (e.g., local and county health departments, community health centers) offer comprehensive oral health care to students enrolled in state Medicaid or CHIP programs. However, wait times for appointments can be long, particularly if the student’s oral health needs are not urgent. It may be difficult to arrange appointments with oral health professionals in private practice. Many do not participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs or limit the number of patients enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP seen in their practices each year.1 Therefore, it is important to devote the time and effort needed to develop relationships with all entities that provide oral health care in the community. Doing so improves the referral process and helps ensure that students who are participating in the program receive needed treatment and establish dental homes.
