Pediatric Advisor, Healthy Teeth Healthy Children PA Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics
Disclosure(s):
C. Eve J. Kimball, MD, FAAP: No financial relationships to disclose
Description: Oral Health Framework for Telehealth (OHFT) is a five+ year project of interprofessional collaboration that will develop virtual solutions to spread validated oral health prevention messages for wide use to improve oral health literacy and reduce Early Childhood Caries (ECC) prevalence. During our Roundtable, we will discuss our Year 1 findings and plans for Year 2 and the future. This project attacks ECC, the most common chronic disease of childhood – over 80% preventable with appropriate home care. Access to dental care is difficult for many, regardless of income, especially in rural communities. The behavior of many Americans today is informed by 15-60 second messages delivered on the internet via sources such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc. Current availability of validated virtual oral health prevention messages is very limited. Our project will create a compendium of effective, virtual oral health prevention education materials and strategies. These will be informed by diverse focus group feedback, piloted by a Learning Collaborative, and housed on the Internet. This set of easily transferable virtual resources and a guide for their implementation in various settings will be made widely available at low or no cost for use by clinicians, community organizations, and individuals. They will augment current public oral health prevention knowledge, particularly in the absence of early and appropriate dental care.
Source of Funding:: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
