Our initiative integrating oral health into primary care, especially for children in
the first years of life.
Oral health is closely connected to overall health, and therefore one of
COHN’s major goals is to better integrate oral health into primary care.
Lack of access to oral health care and tools to develop mouth-healthy
habits early in childhood contribute to serious and costly health
complications later in life. The Health Integration Action Team (HIAT)
works to ensure access to preventive oral health care at well-child
visits in the first years of life, often before most children have
established a dental home. The HIAT guides From the First Tooth, the primary medical dental effort in Maine, as well as projects that
support education for primary care providers in preventive care
techniques and incorporating hygienists into primary care teams.
Percentage of well-child visits with an oral evaluation and/or fluoride
varnish application
From the First Tooth:From the First Tooth is a pediatric oral health initiative promoting the oral health of infants,
toddlers and preschool children in primary care.
The Dental Steps for ME manual and video library
are two components of a larger model for building oral health into every
well-child visit. To learn more about how to implement the full model in
your primary care practice, visit dentalstepsforme.org/providers.
Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
The Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics aims to make
pediatricians and other child health professionals an essential part of
the oral health care team in Maine practices. View a more complete list
of their efforts and resources here.
Me-AAP webinar on oral health integration Jan 2022 (slides)
Me-AAP webinar on oral health integration Jan 2022 (recording)
Have HIAT provide us a list with core partners to include
Big hero image?
Bringing Oral Health Care into Schools & Community Settings
Fancy header blurb Our initiative to strengthen
our oral health care system to reach Maine kids with services where they
are: in schools and community settings.
Intro:
This initiative strengthens our oral health care system to reach Maine
kids with services where they are: in schools and community settings.
Thousands of children have gone without routine preventive care because
they are unable to access a traditional dental office. The School Action
Team works to remove barriers and increase access to preventive oral
health care through developing innovative approaches and collaborative
strategies. They convene educators, school nurses, dental hygienists,
dentists, parent advocates, funders, state program leaders, policy
makers, public health organizations - and more - to serve Maine students
from preschool to diploma.
# schools participating in SOHP
Number of students served by SOHP
School-Based Oral Health Toolkit for School Nurses:
https://www.mainecohn.org/assets/stock/School-Based-OH-Toolkit-for-School-Nurses-2023.pdf
Maine CDC School Oral Health Program:
https://www.mcd.org/focus-areas/oral-health
Maine Department of Education Coordinated School Health program
resources for school nurses:
This approach aims to ensure screenings and fluoride varnish for all
students, early intervention for those who need it, and connections to
dental homes for restorative care. Key strategies include sustainable financing, a coordinated care structure, an oral health workforce,
a data management system, and age-appropriate, culturally-tailored educational
tools.
Independent Practice Dental Hygienists that deliver mobile services:
- keep table from current Connecting Schools to Oral Health Services
with link to sign up form; does table need updating?
Have Evie provide us with a list of core partners to include
Big hero image?
Funding & Sustaining the Oral Health System of the Future
Fancy blurb: Our initiative led by the Maine Oral
Health Funders to build a more accessible state oral health care system
with better long-term sustainability.
Intro:
The Maine Oral Health Funders (MOHF), an affinity group of philanthropic
partners, collaborate on issues related to the funding and
sustainability of an oral health system that ensures that all people in
Maine can get the right care in the right place at the right time.
Compounding challenges such as workforce shortages and insufficient
financing limit the capacity of the statewide oral health system to meet
the needs of all people, especially children who are covered by
MaineCare (Maine’s Medicaid program) or who have no dental insurance at
all. For many years, MOHF has filled gaps by providing the necessary
funding to keep non-profit dental practices and mobile programs in
operation. Now they are turning their attention and efforts to
addressing long-term sustainability in Maine’s oral health care system.
Transforming - any measures around sustainability of MOHCA members,
funding committed to MOHF pooled fund? Anything from the evaluation
report from PFH?
Evaluation of the initiative:
Maine Oral Health Centers Alliance
MOHF continues to fund the work of this Alliance, comprising six of the
state’s stand-alone non-profit dental centers, to address workforce,
policy issues, and collaborative quality improvement strategies. The
Alliance has set goals to build financial and care capacity, strengthen
data systems, and test innovative models for expanding delivery of
quality care and increasing community access. MOHCA members include:[include MOHCA logo and list members]
Partnerships for Health and the University of Maine at Farmington have
undertaken a broad financial analysis of Maine’s oral health care
system. They will effectively assess the readiness, implications, and
viability of emerging models of care that align with MOHF’s goals.
Have Joy provide us with a list of core partners
Big hero image?
Expanding & Diversifying the Workforce of the Future
Fancy Blurb: Our initiative to expand Maine’s oral health
workforce and create career pathways for populations historically underserved
by the oral health care system.
Intro
With funding from the Maine Department of Labor and the Maine Health
Access Foundation, the Oral Health Industry Partnership (OHIP) launched
in 2023 to expand Maine's oral health workforce. Core partners include
MCD Global Health, the Maine CDC School Oral Health Program, the Maine
Access Immigrant Network, and Cross Cultural Community Services. OHIP
focuses on creating oral health career pathways for historically
underserved populations, including Black, Indigenous, and People of
Color (BIPOC); youth ages 16–24; immigrants and refugees; and unemployed
or underemployed adults.
A key initiative is the Oral Health Navigator (OHN) training, designed as a low-barrier entry point to oral health careers. This program equips community health workers and paraprofessionals with essential skills to support patients in navigating the oral health care system, particularly in community settings like schools. The training also serves as a stepping stone for those considering further careers in oral health.
OHIP is also working to increase the number of Independent Practice Dental Hygienists (IPDHs), enabling more care delivery in community settings through the Maine Dental Connection model.
Number of people trained as OHNs, number of employers employing trained
OHNs
