University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health
Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Hannah R. Archer, Master of Public Health Candidate, Spring 2022: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Brady Blackburn, MA: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Nikitha Lanka, n/a: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Zachary Brian, DDS, MHA: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Jane A. Weintraub, DDS, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Abstract: Introduction In North Carolina (NC) 98/100 counties are classified as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. Safety Net Clinics (SNC) are health service centers that deliver healthcare to vulnerable populations. SNC websites are an important source of information for patients and providers.
Objective Our goals in the first phase of a multi-phase project were to 1) assess the presence and type of oral health information on non-dental SNC websites in NC and 2) identify characteristics of the counties where sites were located.
Methods Of the 320 SNCs, a list of the 92 that do not provide dental services was provided by the North Carolina Oral Health Collaborative. Their websites were viewed to determine any presence of oral health education or information about the county’s available dental services. Each website’s search function was used with lay dental terms.
Results Of the 92 non-dental NC SNCs in 65 counties, 100% of the websites lacked oral health educational information. Only 15% had information about the closest dental provider. Compared to the state overall, of the counties with non-dental SNCs, 77% had a worse dentist:population ratio; 80% were more rural, 66% met or exceeded the poor health outcomes average.
Conclusion The availability of oral health education and nearby dental providers on non-dental SNC websites was limited. Our findings suggest an opportunity exists to add this information to increase the availability of oral health resources in these underserved areas. A future goal is to provide SNCs resources to enhance the oral health content of their websites.
