Maine Dental Connection
Our initiative to implement locally-adapted versions of the Virtual Dental Home model, a community-based oral health delivery system, in community settings across Maine.
Maine Dental Connection (MDC) is built on the Virtual Dental Home (VDH) model developed by Dr. Paul Glassman. MDC is a community-based oral health delivery system through which children receive preventive care and early intervention services in community settings, such as daycare, school, and primary care.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists defines the dental home as the “ongoing relationship between the dentist and the patient, inclusive of all aspects of oral health care delivered in a comprehensive, continuously accessible, coordinated, and family-centered way.” MDC strives to operationalize this for thousands of Maine children by convening and supporting a broad network of nonprofit dental clinics, dental hygienists, and local HeadStart and other early childhood programs/settings to implement the model. Telehealth technology enables a dental hygienist to conduct a remote exam and treatment planning process with a dentist, and the child is then enrolled as a patient of record with that practice and has the ability to schedule appointments with the dentist as needed.
Learn more at: https://www.themainedentalconnection.org/
Key Metrics
# kids or sites served by Maine Dental Connection
Number of children who receive a dental exam (comprehensive or periodic) and cleaning by year
The Maine Dental Connection: https://www.themainedentalconnection.org/
MDC Fact Sheet:
Maine Dental Connection Interactive Online Toolkit: Create a free account and search for Maine Dental Connection at http://www.telehealthclassroom.org
Financial Analysis of the VDH Model in Maine: NEED LINK TO RESOURCE
Dr. Paul Glassman’s Virtual Dental Home Policy Brief on the VDH: https://dental.pacific.edu/sites/default/files/users/user244/VirtualDentalHome_PolicyBrief_Aug_2014_HD_ForPrintOnly.pdf