Latest Resources

Returning the Mouth to the Body: Integrating Oral Health & Primary Care

GIH convened the Issue Dialogue Returning the Mouth to the Body: Integrating Oral Health Care and Primary Care to discuss the benefits, challenges, and approaches to integrating oral health and primary care. This Issue Brief synthesizes key points from the day’s discussion with a background paper previously prepared for meeting participants.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Dental Hub and Spoke Project Links Kansans in Underserved Areas to Dental Care

Kansas, like many states with a vast rural geography, has substantial areas with little or no access to oral health services. Studies of the Kansas dental workforce show 93 of 105 counties do not have enough dentists to serve their population.  

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Integrating Primary Care and Public Health: Opportunities for Oral Health

As health philanthropy considers how to address the current individual and community burdens of increases in chronic diseases, I am optimistic when I reflect on the new and promising collaborations that are developing to better manage and prevent oral disease.

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Making the Connection: Pregnancy and Oral Health

Recent research indicates that efforts to support oral health can begin even before birth; just as a pregnant woman’s overall health can affect the health of her pregnancy and baby, her oral health can play a role in the occurrence of early childhood caries in her children.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Giving Voice to Oral Health in Kansas: Benefits of Long-Term Commitment

Someone recently used the term philanthropy du jour,
and it was not meant as a positive appellation. As a field,
we increasingly see longevity as virtue whether it comes
under the guise of general operating support, capacity building, or place-based or strategic grantmaking. The work of the
United Methodist Health Ministry Fund in a single field –
oral health – began in late 1998. My reflections attempt to
capture the results of this extended $11-million initiative.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Foundation Collaboration: Partnering to Improve Young Children’s Oral Health

Dental disease is the single most common chronic childhood disease and is so widespread and the health effects so significant that the U.S. Surgeon General has classified dental disease as a silent epidemic (HHS 2000).

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Oral Health Disparities: A Shift Toward Policy Work

Oral diseases and disorders occur frequently among all populations, but large disparities exist by region, age, socioeconomic status, and race and ethnicity. In response, many oral health grantmakers have become more focused on policy solutions to improve oral health.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Shifting Paradigms in Promoting Oral Health for Young Children

Tooth decay remains the single most prevalent chronic disease of America’s children, affecting 44 percent by age six (Dye et al. 2007). Grantmakers, government, and the professions have long focused energy and resources on getting children into dental care to repair the ravages of this preventable disease and to eliminate associated pain and infection.

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Critical Services for Our Children: Integrating Mental and Oral Health into Primary Care

Grantmakers have long been interested in improving children’s access to health care. Yet, a number of services critical to children’s healthy growth and development—such as mental health and oral health services—fall outside the traditional primary care model. This fragmentation of services has contributed to access barriers and has compromised the quality of pediatric care. Growing awareness of the importance of mental health and oral health has resulted in a variety of innovative efforts to integrate these services into children’s health care.

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Connect With Funder Peers on Oral Health

Interested in exchanging strategies, information, and questions with your funder peers? Sign up for GIH E-Forums.