MCHB-Funded Projects
School-Based Comprehensive Oral Health Services Project Annotations
Center for Oral Health, Oakland, CA
Brendan John, project director
This project will expand the capacity of two existing school-based health centers (SBHCs) within the Los Angeles Unified School District to respond to the oral health needs of enrolled students with low incomes who participate in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The goal of the project is to successfully integrate nutrition and oral health education and comprehensive services into the two SBHCs.
Children's Dental Services, Minneapolis, MN
Sarah Wovcha, project director
Since 1919, Children’s Dental Services (CDS) has been the single largest provider of dental care to Minnesota’s poorest children. CDS will integrate comprehensive dental services into the existing school-based health clinic at Edison High School, the largest urban high school in Minneapolis. Currently only 42.1 percent of Minnesota children and adolescents who participate in Medicaid, and an even lower percentage of those who reside in Minneapolis, receive dental care annually. Edison High School is exceptionally diverse, with over half of its student population comprising recent immigrants and refugees from East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Mexico. The purpose of this project is to expand access to dental care by establishing a seamless system of patient-centered, community-based, culturally competent and translated services and supports for the School-Based Comprehensive Oral Health Services Grant Program at Edison High School. Primary project partners include the Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support. As a result of the project, at least 1,000 additional children and adolescents per year will become connected with a dental home, receive a full range of dental services, and experience improved oral health outcomes.
Health Mobile, Santa Clara, CA
Mike Reza, project director
The goal of this project is, first, to enroll students eligible for Denti-Cal who do not have a dental home and, second, to provide them with comprehensive dental treatment. Few dentists in the region are willing to serve substantial numbers of children with Denti-Cal dental coverage. The project will provide preventive and restorative treatment to students in the localschool district. The project will also conduct outreach, provide education for parents, and provide service to other schools in the district. Health Mobile has three mobile units and can perform 9,000 treatments during the course of a normal school year. Additional service will be provided to neighborhood preschools, community centers, and other community locations in the evening and on weekends.
Health Research, Inc./New York State Department of Health, Menands, NY
Jay Kumar, project director
The North Country Children’s Clinic (NCCC) operates a comprehensive school-based health center (SBHC) with a dental program. However, there is scope for improving collaboration and enhancing the delivery of dental services in in the SBHC. Through this project, the New York State Department of Health, in collaboration with NCCC, aims to strengthen infrastructure to deliver services in schools by establishing a workgroup, improving coordination, involving stakeholders and partners, and seeking schools’ mandates for regular dental examinations. This partnership will develop tools and instruments for data collection, gather data, and evaluate outcomes. Data will be gathered to assess program activities, outcomes, and impact. The results of the evaluation will be shared to improve SBHC performance and identify best practices.
Integrated Health Services, Inc., East Hartford, CT
Deboral Poerio, project director
The Integrated Health Services (IHS) East Hartford School Based Galvin Dental Program Expansion project aims to reduce morbidity related to oral health in a highly underserved community by expanding its dental program to serve an additional 2,800 students. This will be accomplished by providing oral health education and oral health services and by implementing a dental and health record information system, which will allow IHS to be credentialed by National Committee for Quality Assurance as a patient-centered medical home.
Lemon Grove Elementary School District, Lemon Grove, CA
Ellen Beck, project director
Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, Cooperstown, NY
Jane Hamilton, project director
Bassett school-based health currently offers preventive oral health services to all school-based health center sites. The project plans to expand oral health services beyond prevention to outreach and restorative dental care for those with the greatest needs at six sites, reaching over 3,000 students. Project goals are to improve oral health and access to care for children and adolescents. The project aims to create an infrastructure using evidence-based data to support a best-practice rural model for sustainable care delivery.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
Janet Garth, project director
New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine operate a school-based comprehensive oral health services (SBCOHS) program in partnership with Central Harlem’s Promise Academy that serves 1,474 children and adolescents in kindergarten through eighth grade. Over 80 percent of the students that participate in the SBCOHS have at least one cavity. Program objectives are to increase the proportion of Central Harlem children and adolescents receiving comprehensive preventive dental care and to reduce the incidence of dental caries among this population. Dental services to be provided on site include dental examinations, X-rays, cleanings, sealants, mouth guards, restorative care, simple extractions, emergency services, referrals, and oral health education. Oral health education workshops will be provided for students and parents to further support the program objectives. The program will increase the proportion of children and adolescents receiving preventive dental care within the 97-block Harlem Children’s Zone, the nation’s original Promise Neighborhood.
Share Our Selves, Costa Mesa, CA
Karen McGlinn, project director
Share Our Selves (SOS) is a private nonprofit health center network in Orange County, CA. In partnership with Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County (Healthy Smiles) and the El Sol Science and Arts Academy (El Sol), the SOS School-Based Comprehensive Oral Health Services (SBCOHS) project aims to create a permanent dental home that encompasses prevention services, restorations and extractions, oral health and nutritional education, care coordination, and direct linkage to specialty dental care. The vision is to broaden school-based pediatric health services to encompass integrated, comprehensive dental care for infants, children, adolescents and their families. The SOS SBCOHS project is located in the City of Santa Ana, the site of the SOS/El Sol Wellness Center. Santa Ana is a key Medically Underserved Area in Orange County, with approximately one primary care physician per 6,613 residents and one dentist per 3,807 residents. The project will serve infants, children, and adolescents from birth through age 13 and will incorporate culturally competent care coordination, including Denti-Cal enrollment, case management and counseling, patient tracking and recall, and service integration with the physical health services at the SOS/El Sol Wellness Center. SOS and its partners aim to produce a replicable model for (1) oral health service delivery in a school-based clinic setting, (2) primary care and dental care integration, and (3) long-term normative change in the attitudes and behavior of underserved families in one of our nation’s highest-need regions.
Solano Coalition for Better Health, Fairfield, CA
Carl Thomas, project director
Solano Coalition for Better Health—in partnership with the school-based health center (SBHC) at Elsa Widenmann Elementary School in Vallejo, CA; an evaluation team from Touro University California; local dentists; and a local registered dental hygienist— aims to integrate oral health with primary care services through this oral health services project. The SBHC will provide preventive and restorative care, community outreach, oral health education, and referral to students at the school, their siblings, and infants and children from birth through age 5 participating in nearby school-readiness programs. The target population shows high unmet need and/or a prevalence of serious but preventable dental conditions. The project will increase their access to high-quality oral health care and thereby improve their quality of life. This project intends to emphasize oral health education to raise awareness of the importance of prevention and good oral health habits and to encourage positive attitudes toward oral health.
Summit Community Care Clinic, Frisco, CO
Erin Major, project director
University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO
Erica Schwartz, project director
Children and families within the Sheridan community need comprehensive dental services that are fully integrated into primary care practice. The new dental center provides preventative care (sealants and routine cleaning); restorative care (composite/amalgam fillings, crowns, and basic root canals); and rehabilitative care as needed (dentures, implants, and bridges). Emergency services (extractions, nerve removal, and abscess care) for acute pain relief are available. Specialty care and complicated dental procedures are coordinated with specialty providers in conjunction with the CU Dental Clinic at the Anschutz Medical Campus.
