Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110627

Midge A. Pfeffer, RDH, BS, CDHC, Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin, 1533 N. RiverCenter Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212, 414.390.2193, mpfeffer@chw.org, Susan O. Griffin, PhD, Division of Oral Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Mailstop F-10, Atlanta, GA 30341, Kari Jones, PhD, DPPP, CDC, 4770 Buford Hwy NE MS K39, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, Nancy McKenney, RDH, MS, Divsion of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, I West Wilson Street, Rm 665, Madison, WI 53701, and Warren LeMay, DDS, MPH, Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, 1 West Wilson Street, Rm 350, Madison, WI 53701-2659.

Fourteen school-based/-linked sealant programs were awarded Seal-A-Smile (SAS) funding in 2003-04. Each program was required to use SEALS to collect and transfer data to the program administrator, Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin. Data collected on each child includes Medicaid/BadgerCare enrollment, special health care needs, indicators of oral health status, and services delivered. Data collected at each sealant event includes site type, grade levels targeted, teeth targeted, % of children on free and reduced lunch, and quantity and cost of resources used. From this data SEALS calculates numerical summary and performance measures of: effectiveness in targeting interventions, quantity and quality of services delivered, and cost and efficiency of delivery. These measures were generated for individual sealant events and funded programs, as well as the statewide SAS campaign.

In 2003-04, SAS sealed 2,898 children, saving an estimated 2.5 molars per child from decay. 1,049 children were referred for treatment, and 1,459 received fluoride treatments. Average per-child program costs were $21.

SEALS software standardized data collection for statewide program evaluation, providing data to support Wisconsin Governor's proposal to expand the Seal a Smile program.

Learning Objectives:

To describe the usefulness of the “Sealant Efficiency Assessment for Locals and States” (SEALS) software in
• assessing efficiency and effectiveness of school sealant programs and
• affecting policy through SEALS-generated reports.

Keywords: Sealant Programs, Data Collection

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.