This page highlights the important and diverse work in the field related to the integration of oral health and medicine, including toolkits, implementation guides, reports, and other training resources.
The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) developed this publication, Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care: A Resource Guide, to help health professionals, program administrators, educators, and others understand the benefits of integrating oral health care into... Read more about Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care - A Resource Guide
When traditional dental procedures — like drilling and filling cavities and pulling teeth — are medically necessary, access to them is a critical part of ensuring oral health equity. However, less invasive services, collectively referred to as minimally-invasive care (MIC), are often an option...
Minimally-Invasive Care (MIC) is effective oral health care that’s less complex than what most people are used to. When people think of dental care, they most often imagine “traditional” dental procedures like drilling and filling cavities, root canals, pulling teeth, and getting dentures (or other... Read more about Adopting Oral Health Integration to Advance Minimally Invasive Care
Oral health is an important part of children's overall health. Although many factors may impact a child's oral health, the resources below will help you educate families about healthy routines, good oral hygiene, proper tooth development, and how fluoride protects teeth.
Why a Medical-Dental Integration Implementation Guide?
Medical-dental integration is worth the effort, but challenging. Medical and dental settings often work completely independently with their own electronic health or electronic dental records and patient scheduling systems. This...
Welcome to Open Wide: Oral Health Training for Health Professionals and Early Childhood Professionals—Second Edition, a series of four modules designed to help professionals working in programs (e.g., Head Start, home visiting, WIC) promote oral health in the course of promoting...
General pediatricians cover so many different topics in a routine well child exam that it can often feel overwhelming. We assess our patients’ diets, sleep, development, social circumstances, and evaluate them for depression and anxiety, to name a few of the issues “in our lane.” Count oral...
This course will introduce you to value-based care (VBC) in oral health. We will examine the five key areas of oral health value-based care and explore the limitations of the current health care system in the United States. In this course, you will learn how VBC in oral health differs from the...
Oral health is important at every age. A healthy mouth helps you eat and speak, and healthy teeth can give you a winning smile. If you’re caring for young children, you can help them get an early start at protecting their teeth, gums, and mouth.
Oral health during childhood is more important than you might think. Did you know tooth decay is the most common chronic disease among children? Learning good oral health habits early can change a child's life! Poor oral health can cause significant pain, infections, difficulty chewing or...
Minimally invasive care (MIC) in dentistry is about preventing and healing tooth decay without removing any tooth structures. Research shows there is often no need for the traditional “drill-and-fill” approach that has defined dentistry for a century. The use of MIC can potentially reduce...
Fluoride Varnish Training Health care professionals seeking to apply fluoride varnish to MassHealth children age six months up to (but not including) the age of 21 are required to complete a MassHealth-approved training program.
This document presents findings from a review of 15 sources that include oral health risk assessment questions to ask pregnant women. The questions are organized by seven themes listed below. × Dental concerns/pain × Diet/nutrition × Pregnancy symptoms × Health behaviors ×... Read more about Oral Health Risk Assessment Questions to Ask Pregnant Women
Pain management is necessary for some dental procedures. Most often, short-term prescriptions are needed for acute or episodic situations. In many cases, non-opioid over-the-counter (OTC) medication combinations can be as effective as opioid combinations, with fewer side effects. In some other... Read more about Opioids and Pregnant Women: Information for Oral Health Professionals
Learn how your oral health and overall health are connected
To address the gap between oral health and medicine literacy, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and the Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene/Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science partnered to create...
Essential Oral Health Services Provided During a Well Child Visit 1. Caries risk assessment 2. Knee-to-knee clinical exam 3. Fluoride varnish application 4. Education/anticipatory guidance 5. Establishing a dental home
This teaching strategy focuses on developing oral health competencies to educate parents and children on the importance of oral health and hygiene, fluoride, and having a dental home. It also focuses on recognizing abnormal findings in the mouth.
Released in December 2021, the summary from the Continuum on the Benefits of Integrating Oral Health into Overall Health is a thorough review of the detailed discussion undertaken by 56 presenters from multiple sectors and perspectives. The themes that arise draw from insights from basic science... Read more about Integrating Oral Health into Overall Health Summary
This report, facilitated by the National Institutes of Health, and titled Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges, is only the second comprehensive document on this topic and the first in more than 20 years. Since the publication in 2000 of Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon... Read more about Oral Health in America - Advances and Challenges
A Best Practice Approach Report describes a public health strategy, assesses the strength of evidence on the effectiveness of the strategy, and uses practice examples to illustrate successful/innovative implementation.
This module introduces the connection between oral health and overall health, including oral and systemic disease associations, the integration of oral health and primary care, and workforce and policy implications.
The Global Health Starter Kit is a competency-based global health ‘starter’ curriculum designed for dental educators and students. This curriculum is free and available for anyone to use and is organized into two versions. The first version contains materials for educators and teachers, and the... Read more about Global Health Starter Kit
To improve access to and utilization of comprehensive, high-quality oral health care for pregnant women, infants, and children at high risk for oral disease, the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau funded the Networks for Oral Health Integration (NOHI)... Read more about Networks for Oral Health Integration