Grade: B
Issue:
Dental health is an important component of total health care. Based on
the 1998 Boone County Health and Human Services Needs Assessment, 21,000
Boone County adults have no dental coverage and 6,550 children have never
had
dental care.
Key Accomplishments:
The Mid-Missouri Dental Clinc served 4,481 clients.
Kings Daughters expanded services and provided acute and follow-up
dental care to over 100 K-12 students in Columbia Public Schools.
Columbia Public Schools Health Services expanded dental prevention
programs offering dental sealant in all second and seventh grades.
Information outlining dental education programming available to
schools was sent to all Boone County School Nurses.
Assessed dental needs of medically compromised adults, Medicaid
families and the elderly and researched State donated Dental Services and
use of dental school students as possibilities to increase dental
services
to these persons.
Presentations to prevent "baby-bottle tooth decay" programs through
Educaree and Stork's Nest.
Formed a dental hygienist group to focus on preventive dental
teaching.
Strategies:
Provide acute dental care for low income adults through a cooperative
arrangement involving dentists and social service agencies.
Research ways to provided needed dental care for the elderly,
medically compromised, and Medicaid populations.
Increase preventative dental health education, specifically to
decrease the incidence of "baby-bottle tooth decay."
Provide opportunities for primary care providers to attend inservices
on dental health.
Contact:
Suzanne McDavid, School Nurse, Field/Douglass High School,
886-2963/886-2783 or Jean Gurucharri, Kings Daughters' Dental Aid Program,
449-4788.
Last revised: May 26, 1999
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