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Issues Network

Oral Health

Oral health is essential to overall health, but access to oral health care services is limited. In response, many foundations and corporate giving programs are working to improve oral health care through policy and advocacy, workforce development, and delivery system support. GIH strives to increase funder awareness of this important need, particularly for vulnerable populations.

What's New
  • Brief Examines ACA Pediatric Oral Health Benefits
    April 2013
    Health Reform GPS, a project of the George Washington University and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has released a new brief, "Access to Pediatric Oral Health Benefits offered through Health Insurance Exchanges." The brief provides an assessment of current Administration policy regarding access to children’s oral health benefits and identifies an emerging set of policy issues that in turn may be creating a policy misalignment between children’s oral health coverage and the premium credits and cost-sharing reduction assistance to which their families are entitled.
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  • Connecticut Health Foundation Examines Effectiveness of Medicaid Program Reforms
    April 2013
    The Connecticut Health Foundation has released a brief, "Impact of Increased Dental Reimbursement Rates On HUSKY A-Insured Children: 2006 – 2011." The brief examines the impact of increased dental reimbursement rates and improved program administration on the state’s Medicaid program for low-income families, HUSKY A, on utilization rates, private dentist participation, and the relative contributions of private practices and dental safety net providers. The data show positive results, including improved utilization rates for children continuously enrolled in the Medicaid program (46 percent in 2006 to 70 percent in 2011) and increased provider participation.
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  • Pew Releases Brief Examining Dental Therapists in New Zeland
    March 2013
    The Pew Children's Dental Campaign has released a new brief examining New Zealand’s use of dental therapists to provide care for children. New Zealand has been using dental therapists in school settings since 1921, the longest of any country in the world, and their country's experience can provide invaluable insights into how alternative, or midlevel, dental providers can expand children’s access to dental care, prevent and treat tooth decay, and improve public health. This brief examines their effect on oral health and access to treatment in New Zealand and provides policy lessons and considerations for U.S. policymakers.
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Spotlight on Oral Health
  • Study Finds Dental Therapists Expand Access to Services
    May 2013
    Community Catalyst has released a new study examining the impact of dental therapists practicing in Alaska and Minnesota on access to oral health services. The study has found that dental therapists have made significant improvements in remote areas, for those covered by public insurance, and children. Among the study's findings, researchers found that dental therapists expanded access to more than 40,000 people in rural areas in Alaska, that 78 percent of people served by therapists in Minnesota are publicly insured, and nearly 85 percent of all services provided by dental therapists in both states are routine and preventive.
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Publications of Interest
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