professor University of Florida and AT Still University
Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Jaana T. Gold, DDS, PhD, MPH, CPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Obesity and dental caries are prevalent chronic childhood diseases. These diseases are multifactorial in nature and share common nutritional risk factors such as consumption of sugar sweetened beverages. Also, there are many behavioral factors that affect both oral health and child weight status, therefore, dental health professionals are well positioned to address these risk factors and provide nutrition counseling and other preventive strategies into the dental office.
This training project was in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health Dental Program and Oral Health Florida (OHF); and funded by HRSA-18-014 - Grants to States to Support Oral Health Workforce Activities from the HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce. The purpose of this project was to develop evidence-based and community-informed training for Florida’s oral health workforce on risk factors for obesity and dental caries. The presenter provided 10 virtual trainings for dental providers in selected five counties in Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presenter will share the challenges and opportunities, summarize the training material, describe partnerships, and share evaluation data. She will also present about Florida’s campaign to reduce childhood obesity and tooth decay and future project activities.
