Library of Selected Oral Health Resources

Papers, Reports, Handouts, Research

4-H Health Fact Sheet: Details of a 4-H program focusing on improving oral health behaviors in 2007.
Blueprint to Improve West Virginia Perinatal Health: Reports of the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership 2007 and includes the report of the Committee on Oral Health and Pregnancy describing the problem in West Virginia, the currently availability of oral health care for perinatal women and recommendations for improvement.
Handbook on Contracting Dental Services Through FQHC
Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts: This website compiles a variety of health statistics by state, including this chart showing the percentage of adults who had their teeth cleaned, by state
Maternal Oral Health Resource Guide: This 24 page guide, published by the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center, Georgetown University, abstracts journal articles and other sources to provide a comprehensive look at maternal oral health.
Access to Oral Health Care During the Perinatal Period: The Policy Brief provides an overview of the major barriers to addressing women's oral health needs during the perinatal period.
Oral Health Care Available in West Virginia: A flyer containing a tabular summary presentation, by county, of oral health care providers in West Virginia. Print copies of this flyer can be made available for distribution. Contact renatepore@oralhealthwv.org
Oral Health Care During Pregnancy: A Summary of Practice Guidelines: This publication summarizes the New York State Department of Health's publication, Oral Health Care During Pregnancy and Early Childhood: Practice Guidelines, which is geared toward prenatal and oral health professionals. The guidelines are intended to bring about changes in the health care delivery system and to improve the overall standard of care for pregnant women.
Oral Health in West Virginia: A handout providing some statistics about the state of oral health in West Virginia and describes a number of programs and projects addressing the need, especially Benedum-funded programs . (2006)
Research on Oral Health in West Virginia Excerpts and Findings from Reports: This paper contains a summary of focus group findings of West Virginia Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems, a project of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health Office of Maternal, Child, and Family Health. August 31, 2005. The topic is dental care and affordability of oral health services. The paper also contains excerpts relating to access to oral health services in the report of The United Way of Central West Virginia Health Care Access Project, Experiences in Receiving Health Care by West Virginia CHIP and Medicaid Families, October 2004. This was a study of 101 families in the Kanawha Valley (Kanawha, Clay, Boone, Putnam Counties). Access to oral health was cited as a problem for both children and adults.
Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health
Testimony of James J. Crall, D.D.S., Sc.D. on Necessary Reforms to Pediatric Dental Care under Medicaid
Two Healthy Smiles: Tips to Keep You and Your Baby Healthy: This brochure is designed to educate women about the importance of oral hygiene and oral health care during pregnancy.
West Virginia Oral Health Profile -- Centers for Disease Control: Comprehensive statistics about the state of oral health in West Virginia
See More Flyers and Handouts on Our "Posters and Handouts" Page

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Online Resources for Oral Health Education

A Way With Words: Guidelines for Writing Oral Health Materials: Writing for audiences with limited literacy
American Academy of Periodontology Patient E-Newsletter: The AAD publishes a newsletter e-mailed once a quarter with oral health information and tips for protection against gum disease.
American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing: Jan-Feb 2008 issue focuses on oral health
Center for Health and Health Care in Schools
Center for Health and Health Care in Schools – Dr. Rosenthal’s Toolkit: Clinical and Management Tools for Effective School-Based Dental Programs Authored by Murray Rosenthal, DDS, New York City, New York
Center for Oral Health Research
Every Child Matters Resources Page
Head Start Oral Health Training Videos: Happy Children--Happy Smiles: These online videos, designed for Head Start staff, teachers, and parents, provide information about developing good oral health habits. There is an introduction plus 6 video segments. The first 5 sections discuss different aspects of oral health. The sixth section, for Head Start staff only, outlines specific aspects of Head Start program regulations and resources that relate to oral health. For information about acquiring a DVD containing the videos, contact Becky Gooch-Erbacher, Executive Director West Virginia Head Start Association
Forum on Child and Family Statistics
Interactive Dental Health Activities for Children from the American Dental Association
Kids Health [Kids Oral Health Education Site]
Maternal and Child Health Library -- Knowledge Path: Oral Health, Children and Adolescents: This knowledge path about oral health and children and adolescents has been compiled by the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) and the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of current, high-quality resources that analyze data, describe effective programs, and report on policy and research aimed at improving access to oral health care and quality of oral health for children and adolescents. Separate sections identify resources on specific aspects of oral health including dental sealants, early childhood caries (ECC), fluoride varnish, Head Start (HS), child care, school-based education, and school-based care. The final section lists oral health resources for consumers. This knowledge path is aimed at health professionals, program administrators, educators, policymakers, and families, and it will be updated annually.
Maternal and Child Health Oral Health Knowledge Path
Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center
Mobile Dental Manual
National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) Oral Health Toolkit
National Survey of Children’s Health
National Children's Dental Health Month (NCDHM): Each February, the American Dental Association sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of oral health. This site contains a number of presentational resources on oral health for kids.
Oral Health Knowledge Path: Knowledge Path: Oral Health and Pregnant Women, Infants, Children, and Adolescents is an electronic guide to recent resources that analyze data, describe programs, and report on policy and research aimed at improving access to and the quality of oral health care.
Oral Health Risk Assessment Training for Pediatricians and Other Child Professionals: The purpose of this online training program is to provide a concise overview of how to perform an oral examination and conduct an oral health risk assessment and triage for infants and young children. It is sponsored by the Oral Health Initiative, American Academy of Pediatrics.
Safety Net Dental Clinic Manual
Seal America: The Prevention Invention
West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention: The WV Dept. of Health and Human Resources Division of Tobacco Prevention site is a good source for educational presentations and publications on prevention of tobacco use.

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Projects and Programs in West Virginia

Benedum Invests in W. Va. Oral Health: Article written for the West Virginia University School of Dentistry Alumni Journal describing the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation's commitment to improving oral health in West Virginia. the Foundation, to date, has funded 21 grants on oral health for a total of $2,754,250.
Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia: The goal of the Center for Oral Health research in Appalachia is to identify factors that lead to oral health disparities in children and families. Their primary study is examining these factors in a sample of 500 families followed for five years. Their long term goal is to identify targets for interventions and create effective interventions to reduce oral health disparities in this population.
Children's Dentistry Project: The Children's Dentistry Project works in concert with other Office of Maternal, Child, and Family Health children’s programs, Head Start, public schools, local health departments, community health centers and others to promote dental health services as an integral part of preventive, primary health services and to encourage proper self-care.
Health Sciences and Technology Academy: The Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) will engage students at Man High School in oral health by providing them access to 5 laptops. Laptops will be used to develop gaming design focusing on oral health. Older students will then share their educational games with elementary students, who will evaluate their game during the months of March and April, 2008. Games will be reviewed by faculty at WVU. A final presentation of games will occur on April 19, 2008, at the 12th Annual HSTA Symposium. Students began their project on December 20th. HSTA has also adopted the Healthy Snack handout created by the CARDIAC team. Handout will be used in the HSTA summer programs on campus. For information, contact Dr. Ann Chester (304) 293-1026.
MOM (Eastern Panhandle Mission of Mercy Healthy Smiles Initiative): On June 27-28, 2008, the Eastern Panhandle MOM dental MASH project will care for 1000+ needy adults with 600+ volunteers. Details will be available on the MOM website
Oral Health Educators in West Virginia: A list (PDF) of oral health educators in West Virginia available through the Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health.
WV Healthy Start/HAPI Project (Helping Appalachian Parents and Infants): Provides in-home services to pre-natal and postpartum women in target counties of Barbour, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, and Upshur that includes oral health education related to pregnancy and infants, a free dental cleaning and screening, a free Sonicare toothbrush and instruction, a monthly supply of Crest toothpaste, and follow-up dental screening.
Valley Health Systems Oral Health Program: Valley Health System operates a Benedum Foundation funded three-pronged oral health program focused on education and awareness in all of West Virginia. The program includes a grass roots marketing campaign, an expansion of the West Virginia Pediatric Oral Health Project, and the promotion of the Oral Health Educators Program. Contact Bobbi Jo Muto , Valley Health's Oral Health Program Administrator, for more information.

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Programs and Projects Outside West Virginia

Children’s Dental Health Project
Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin – Seal-A-Smile Program
Mobile Dentists
Oral Health America
Seal a Smile Portfolio
Smiles Across America

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West Virginia Organizations

West Virginia Association of School Nurses
West Virginia Bureau for Public Health
West Virginia Children's Health Insurance Program
West Virginia Dental Association: Resources to help visitors learn more about the dental profession, press releases to keep you abreast of the latest news and the importance of good oral health, a job-bank to make job seekers aware of dental-related positions available in their area, and even a utility to put you in touch with a local dentist.
West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families Coalition
West Virginia Medicaid -- Bureau for Medical Services
West Virginia Primary Care Association
West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnership Program
West Virginia University School of Dentistry
County Health Departments in West Virginia: Addresses, hours of operation, contacts for all West Virginia County Health Departments.
Regional Family Resource Network: The Regional Family Resource Network is comprised of Boone, Kanawha, and Putnam Counties in West Virginia. Among other functions, it serves as a way to share information about resources in the community.
West Virginia Dental Hygienists Association: To improve the public’s total health, the mission of the West Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association is to advance the art and science of dental hygiene by ensuring access to quality oral health care, increasing awareness of the cost-effective benefits of prevention, promoting the highest standards of dental hygiene education, licensure, practice and research, and representing and promoting the interests of dental hygienists.
West Virginia School-Based Health Assembly: School-based health centers bring primary and preventive care, including medical and mental health, health education and sometimes dental services to children and adolescents where they are much of the day - in school. See their Report of Survey School‐Based Dental Services in West Virginia 2006‐2007 Prepared by Linda Anderson, MPH The West Virginia School Health Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center Marshall University with funding from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
WVU Department of Dental Practice and Rural Health: Dental and dental hygiene students are given an opportunity to become intimately involved in the day-to-day dynamics which uniquely affect the management of rural private dental practice.
West Virginia Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health Oral Health Program: Includes the Children's Dentistry Project, The Donated Dental Project and the Pre-Employment Services Project. Downloadable oral health educational brochures. List of Oral health educators across West Virginia.
West Virginia University Extension Service: Among its many activities, the WVU Extension Service helps families in all 55 West Virginia counties become more resilient and healthy, primarily through educational programs, many directed at oral health.

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National Organizations

American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American Academy of Pediatrics: Oral Health Initiative Newsletter
American Association for Community Dental Programs
American Dental Association
American Dental Hygienists’ Association
American Public Human Services Association
Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors
National Association of Community Health Centers
National Association of Primary Care Centers

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Advocacy Groups

Children's Defense Fund Action Council
National Center for Children in Poverty
National Network for Oral Health Access
West Virginians for Affordable Health Care

Other States

Maryland: The Hilltop Institute (working with public and non-profit community-based agencies at the national, regional, and local levels to improve the health and social outcomes of vulnerable populations in a manner that maximizes the impact of available resources.)
North Carolina: Institute of Medicine Task Force on Dental Care Access; Healthy Carolinians
Wisconsin: Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin

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A $3,000 grant has been awarded to the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department to help fund oral health education for the Women, Infant and Children's program and children's clinics.

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