Taking a Bite Out of School Absences: Oral Health Investments Paying Off

Taking a Bite Out of School Absences: Oral Health Investments Paying Off

1. Funded: o $5,127,608 2. Unfunded: o System Building o Collective Impact

Children s Oral Health Report 2016 Reports show that investing in prevention and early intervention can significantly improve oral health for Arizona s children, thus reducing the likelihood that oral health problems will impact their school attendance and performance.

Prevention efforts are paying off Since 2003, the percentage of Arizona s kindergarteners with untreated decay has decreased from 35% to 27% The percentage of Arizona s kindergarteners with a dental visit within the last year increased from 54% to 77%.

Challenges that remain Too many children in Arizona still experience tooth decay. Tooth decay is the most common chronic early childhood disease in the U.S.

School Readiness and Academic Performance Nationwide, its estimated oral disease causes kids to miss 51 million hours of school each year. Children who have dental decay may experience pain increased vulnerability to infections impaired speech development failure to thrive and reduced self-esteem. At school children can Be distracted from learning and play Not be able to focus

Economic Impact Cost of dental work Missed days of learning Time off from work (parent) Lost funding for school districts

What is FTF has taken a leadership role in providing community based oral health prevention for children 0-5 and pregnant women.

Our Services: For children that fall into 0-5 age range we provide: Limited dental screenings Fluoride varnish Oral health education Appropriate referrals

Community Program Since 2012, First Smiles has provided 17,900 fluoride varnish treatments

Community Partnerships Our greatest community collaborators are private, charter, group homes and public schools. We develop an approach catered specifically for each site.

Community Approach Assessment Steps: 1. Continuous community engagement and relationship building. 2. Identify risk for decay and need of services for site. 3. Identifying the current community dental support 4. Evaluate communication from site and parent involvement. 5. Collecting/Conducting of site etiquette. 6. Sharing program strategy for dental screenings and education. 7. Make modification based on results of evaluation.

How to improve American Academy of Pediatrics recommends Parent/family education on oral health Healthy foods and limiting sugars Brush with fluoridated toothpaste First dental visit by age 1 Series of topical fluoride applications Fluoridated water supplies

How do we improve the process Strategy aimed at containing and reversing the early signs of white spot lesions. Focus on oral hygiene Identify white spots Educate Use community school approach

Challenges When the work is beyond preventative

Megan Pliska (McNeece) Oral Health Professional meganmcneece@email.arizona.edu Emilia Cortez Program Coordinator- First Smiles Family, Consumer Science Dept. The University of Arizona Coop. Ext. Yuma 2200 W 28 th Street Ste. 102 Yuma, AZ 85364 Office- 928.726.3904 ext. 1707 Fax- 928.726.8472 enc@email.arizona.edu Rudy J. Ortiz Yuma Regional Director ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 928.343.3020 Office azftf.gov 602.510.9307 Mobile rjortiz@azftf.gov ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join us at the FTF Early Childhood Summit - August 22-23