Abstract

Protect Tiny Teeth: A pediatric oral health quality improvement project

Maureen Cooney, MPH, Kera Beskin, MPH, Lauren Barone, MPH, Hollis Russinof, MUPP American Academy of Pediatrics

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has been working to address oral health of children and pregnant women. The Protect Tiny Teeth toolkit (www.aap.org/tinyteeth) was created to raise awareness of the importance of oral health for pregnant women, children, and their families. The kit includes communications and practice-based tools to help health care professionals implement preventive oral health services in the maternity and pediatric care settings.

Objective: The Protect Tiny Teeth implementation project is a continuation of ongoing medical dental integration work at the AAP. The project is measuring the implementation of preventive oral health services and which toolkit resources are most utilized by participating pediatric practices.

Methods: Eight pediatric sites were selected in January 2022. Practices are tasked with integrating oral health into their pediatric workflow using resources from the Protect Tiny Teeth toolkit. A kickoff call taught participants the Model for Improvement as a framework for their quality improvement efforts. Three learning collaborative sessions will allow participants to share challenges and successes. Patient chart data, from each site, will be collected monthly from January 2022 to June 2022. At the conclusion of the project, qualitative interviews will be conducted to collect oral health integration best practices.

Results: At project baseline (January 2022), 64% of pediatric patients were receiving any oral health education, referral, services, and/or screening. Final project results will be available in July 2022. A final summary report and implementation guide will be developed in July 2022.

Source of Funding: This project was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by American Academy of Pediatrics, CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.