227170 Cavity Free at Three: A Program to Educate Physicians on Incorporating Early Childhood Caries Prevention into Well Child Care

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 8:45 AM - 9:00 AM

Jack M. Westfall, MD, MPH , Dept. of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Denver Medical School, Aurora, CO
     
Background: One of the leading surgical procedures at The Children's Hospital in Denver is full mouth restoration on children with severe dental caries. Approximately 2900 of these surgeries occur annually at a cost ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 per case. Although the ADA and AAP recommend that children receive their first dental visit at age one, significant barriers exist in assuring access to care. Cavity Free at Three, a statewide oral disease prevention program, seeks to reduce these barriers by enlisting the help of primary care medical providers.

Methods: Incorporating Cavity Free at Three into primary care well child care will be described.

Results: 100 physicians and 300 other health providers have been trained in infant oral health. Physician billing to Medicaid for oral exams and fluoride varnish has significantly increased. Caries prevention is being incorporated in well child care throughout Colorado. 200 additional physicians will receive training in 2010.

Conclusion: Medical providers recognize the importance of incorporating oral disease prevention into well child care. To do so, training and support is needed. Cavity Free at Three successfully educates and trains primary care practices to include infant oral care into routine well child care

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Basic medical science applied in public health
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
1) Describe strategies for training medical providers to incorporate caries risk assessment, education of primary caregivers, self-management goal setting and fluoride varnish into well child care. 2) Explain how to work with medical practices to incorporate oral health education into already full well child schedules. 3) Advise practices on recently revised billing guidelines for reimbursement. 4) Discuss how to build stronger linkages between physicians and dentists to share the responsibility of early childhood caries.

Keywords: Oral Health, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Director of the Cavity Free at Three program and I am one of the developers of this program.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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