259160 Community-based fluoride varnish program

Monday, October 29, 2012

Kimberly Harris, MA , Department of Advocacy and Community Affairs, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC
Description The oral health demonstration project was developed to address critical threats of pediatric oral healthcare issues in the District of Columbia. Via a mobile unit, nearly 1500 children received free oral health screenings, education, incentives and fluoride varnish applications. The intervention was implemented to determine the best practice model for a sustainable intervention. Method: The project was designed to reduce the incidence of dental cavities in children ages 0-8 in high-risk populations by providing preventive education to parents, fluoride varnish applications to children, and linking families to a dental home. Staff traveled to Head Start Centers, community events, health centers, public schools, and a dental clinic to provide the service. Each child was offered 3 applications at no cost that were administered in 2-3 month intervals. At each visit the child received an oral health screening, fluoride varnish application, and incentives. Results: The program applied 1,926 fluoride varnish applications to 1,493 unique families within a 12 month period. There were 15 educational sessions conducted for parents and staff participating in the program. An oral health coalition was established to address inadequate dental services and to advocate for policy changes surrounding Medicaid reimbursements. While the program can be implemented successfully in several models explored, the Head Start model proved to be the best practice approach for this fluoride varnish intervention. The program has been transitioned to the hospital's dental program to provide ongoing comprehensive services to children in the program.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education

Learning Objectives:
-Describe a best practice model for program duplication -List recommendations to address critical threats in pediatric oral healthcare -Discuss oral health advocacy initiatives spearheaded by a children's hospital

Keywords: Oral Health, Advocacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: . I have managed and implemented successful health promotion and disease prevention programs for seven years at Children's National Medical Centers. My areas of focus included but are not limited to injury prevention, oral health and immunizations.
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.