Healthy, Happy Smiles!

Transcription

1 Healthy, Happy Smiles! Preventative Dental Services in Eastern Oregon s, Year 2 Funding for the project is provided in part by the Oregon Community Foundation, and the Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization. Eastern Oregon Healthy Living Alliance, PO Box 1230 Lakeview, OR jadams@gobhi.net (541) A program of the Eastern Oregon Healthy Living Alliance

2 Preventative Dental Services in Eastern Oregon s Background Eastern Oregon Healthy Living Alliance, in partnership with Advantage Dental, provided a school-based oral health program called Healthy, Happy Smiles (HHS) in eastern Oregon schools throughout the school year. This was the second year of a four-year grant program funded through the Oregon Children s Dental Health Initiative (OCDHI). In the school year, Healthy, Happy Smiles served 4670 children in 29 schools in four counties, including Baker, Grant, Harney, and Malheur. Seven schools and an additional 1,545 students were added to the program in the second year of the program. All four participating counties are considered rural or frontier counties where 73% of children aged 6-9 have already experienced a cavity, compared to the state average of 52% [1]. Together they cover 27,773 square miles of eastern Oregon where there are limited services. For example, Fields Elementary in Harney County is 112 miles from the nearest dental office. By going to where the children are, we decrease access barriers and demonstrate that oral health is both important and a routine part of health monitoring and prevention services. Services Healthy, Happy Smiles provides free dental screenings, fluoride application, sealants, follow-up care for children with urgent dental care needs, and free toothbrush kits to every student in grades Kindergarten through 12 th regardless of insurance status. Additionally, targeted schools have at least a 40% Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) and did not currently have a school-based oral health program in place. s also had the opportunity to participate in a hands-on dental health learning lab. The lab features age appropriate educational material on brushing, flossing, fluoride, orthodontics, tooth anatomy, oral safety, tobacco s effect on the mouth, sugary foods and drinks, and dental careers. HHS utilizes traditional fluoride and. with silver looks like water but is very powerful and stops cavities that are hard to see. It is painted on the teeth and can heal early tooth decay. Fillings may not be needed for cavities that are treated with. Goals EOHLA s organizational goal is to reduce the cavity rate of children is participating counties by 3% by the year Process measure goals include 60% of eligible children to return parent consent forms; 55% of eligible children to receive a dental screening or assessment, at least 40% of students to receive the fluoride application, and 20% of eligible children to receive dental sealants over the course of the school year. 1 P a g e

3 Partnership with Advantage Dental The continued partnership with Advantage Dental utilizes an already existing dental delivery service model that assists in connecting the local community of dentists to provide care to the members of the county. Each county is assigned an expanded practice dental hygienist (EPDH) that provides the services to students. EOHLA Program Coordinator, Alanna Chamulak, has been working in coordination with each hygienist to work with schools, schedule service days and provide care to students, and community outreach. All students that are seen by the EPDH are sent home with a printed report card of the screenings findings and of any services that were provided. If a student is identified to have urgent dental care needs it is indicated on the report card and the Advantage Dental Case Management team contacts the parents by phone. Case Management encourages the parents to schedule an appointment with the families preferred dentist or can assist in scheduling an appointment with an Advantage Dental provider in their area. Secondary dates are also set with schools so that the EPDH can follow-up with the students that were identified as having urgent dental care needs. Steering Committee The steering committee consists of members from core partners in each community. The committee includes, Advantage Dental Regional Manager Mary Ann Wren, Carolyn Bauer with Burns Dental Group, Lake Health District CHIP Coordinator Arvinder Singh, Baker District 5J Special Education Director Barry Nemec, Frontier Early Leaning Hub Coordinator with Grant and Harney Counties Patti Wright, Malheur ESD Director of Community Based Services Kelly Poe, and EOHLA Executive Director John Adams facilitates the meetings. Together, this diverse group provides their knowledge and experience to help support a successful program. Impact Overall, 54% of students returned parent consent forms; 40% of students received dental screenings; at least 35% of students received fluoride application; and 14% of students received dental sealants. 60% of students received oral health education through the learning lab; 100% of students received free toothbrush kits; and 28 students were referred to their provider for urgent dental care needs. Baker County 5 schools 69% consent form return rate 53% students screened 85% fluoride application 23% dental sealants Harney County 10 schools 86% consent form return rate 68% students screened 63% fluoride application 20% dental sealants Grant County 4 schools 48% consent form return rate 37% students screened 43% fluoride application 10% dental sealants Malheur County 10 schools 33% consent form return rate 22% students screened 24% fluoride application 7% dental sealants 2 P a g e

4 Baker County: Baker County schools saw significant improvement over last year s student participation rate in the program. Overall 69% of students returned parent consent forms in the school year, exceeding the benchmark and an increase of over 53% over the prior year; 62% of students received fluoride application, and 23% of students received dental sealants. of students Baker County s Baker Middle % No South Baker Intermediate % No Brooklyn Elementary % No Haines Elementary % Yes Keating Elementary 25 72% Yes Total % Grant County: Grant County schools saw a drop in student participation over the prior year, with an overall consent form return rate of 48% compared to last year s 63%. The lower student participation is largely due to the addition of a new school to the program, Grant Union Jr./Sr. High which experienced a far lower return rate than the other three schools did. Also of note, Seneca Elementary achieved a 100% consent form return rate and Humbolt expanded services to all K-6 students compared to only K-2 last year. 37% of students received dental screenings, 32% of students received fluoride varnish application, and 10% of students received dental sealants. of students Grant County s Prairie City % n/a 18 Yes Seneca Elementary % n/a 9 No Humbolt % n/a 38 Yes Grant Jr./Sr. High % n/a 14 Yes Total % n/a 79 3 P a g e

5 Harney County: Similar to last year, Harney County schools had the highest student participation in the program. 86% of students returned parent consent forms, exceeding the benchmark. 68% of students received dental screenings, 42% of students received fluoride application, and 20% of students received dental sealants. of Harney County s Burns High % No Double O Elementary 3 100% No Drewsey Elementary 8 100% No Frenchglen Elementary Hines Middle % Yes Henry L Slater Elementary % No Pine Creek Elementary 9 100% No Fields Elementary Suntex Elementary % No Crane Elementary % No Total % Malheur County: Malheur County experienced lower parent consent return rates overall; however, it did see a drastic increase with 33% of students returning parent consent forms compared to 18% last school year. As a result of the low return rate, the screenings and preventative services rates are lower as well. 22% of students received dental screenings, 18% of students received fluoride application, and 7% of students received dental sealants. 4 P a g e of students Malheur County s Harper Charter % Yes Jordan Valley Elementary 13 85% Yes Jordan Valley High 42 2% Yes Rockville Elementary 4 100% No Ontario Middle % No Vale Elementary % Yes Vale Middle 99 46% Yes Willowcreek Elementary 97 46% Yes Nyssa Elementary % Yes Nyssa Middle % Yes Total %

6 Challenges A few schools in Malheur County struggled with student participation in the program. Additionally, Grant County experienced a decline in student participation. In both cases, this is attributed to new schools that joined the program for the school year who did not include the parent consent forms within fall student registration, a key factor to achieve high student participation. Additionally, another school in Malheur County provided the parent consent forms within fall school registration; however, they were not fully integrated and this contributed to a low parent consent return rate. form return rates for middle and high schools are generally lower, because, often times consent forms don t make it home to parents. Additionally, during the school year there were several scheduling issues with a number of the schools when attempting to provide the learning lab, which resulted in 60% of students participating in the learning lab. Successes Overall, the program improved its student participation within the program in the school year. Over the prior year, parent consent forms improved by 21%; screenings increased by 8%; fluoride application improved by 12% and the dental sealant goal was met in Harney and Baker counties. Program improvements are largely attributed to established relationships with key partners, schools, program staff, and partners more familiar with one another and with implementation protocols such as effective use of incentives and a year of experience and better understanding of how to manage a successful program. Harney County, the highest performing county, saw success due to a few key factors. Harney Education Service District and Carolyn Bauer with Burns Dental Group have been key partners contributing to the success of the program. Harney ESD helped to fully integrate the program into existing vision and hearing screenings. This allowed for continued trust in the program as well as limiting the amount of time required for students to miss class. Carolyn and Burns Dental Group volunteered to help collect parent consent forms with multiple schools in Harney County and helped with outreach and education with the dental learning lab. Additionally, the EPDH continues to build upon existing relationships with school staff and administrators. Baker County saw the largest improvement over last year s numbers. The improvement in Baker County is attributed to a key partnership with Baker District 5J, schools, program staff, and the EPDH more familiar with implementation protocols and another year of experience, and the effective use of incentives. Each student that returned a consent form in grades K-6 won a small prize and students in grades 7-12 were entered into a drawing to win a gift card. Also, a $50 Amazon gift card being awarded to the teacher with the highest consent form return rate for their school. Moving Forward Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen our relationships with schools and communities so that we can bring services to as many students across eastern Oregon as possible. EOHLA has been awarded a $70,000 grant through the Oregon Children s Dental Health Initiative to provide the program in the school year References 1. Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Oregon Smile Survey pdf 5 P a g e