Data Reports

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Oral Health embarked on a project in 2023 to better understand pediatricians’ provision of preventive oral health services for children ≤5 years of age and assess pediatrician familiarity with and use of a new modality for treating dental caries – silver diamine fluoride (SDF).

The project included a Pediatric Oral Health Practices Survey with over 300 pediatricians and a series of key informant interviews. This report summarizes findings from 12 key informant interviews conducted during July and August 2023.

Read the report Pediatricians and Pediatric Oral Health Knowledge and Attitudes about Silver Diamine Fluoride in Pediatric Practice.

Best Practice Approach: Early Childhood Caries: Prevention and Management (2023), a report from the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD), asserts that prevention is more effective in addressing ECC than invasive treatment procedures. Improving oral hygiene and oral health literacy of caregivers can positively affect the oral health of children. Engaging public messaging campaigns can encourage caregivers to improve their own oral health before and during a child’s early years, so the child learns healthy habits and the transfer of cariogenic bacteria is reduced. The current oral health care delivery and reimbursement systems should expand preventive and treatment services beyond dental offices and provide oral health care where children spend most of their time, such as early childhood programs and schools. Finally, public policy must be flexible to allow medical health professionals and others to use effective therapeutics to prevent, manage, and treat ECC.

This report from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health reinforces the connection between oral health and overall health and underscores the breadth of health issues — including ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) — that ongoing oral health care can protect against. Key findings from the report include:

• Preventive dental visits decreased the likelihood of acquiring VAP. 
• At least one preventive dental visit within three years reduced the likelihood of a VAP diagnosis by 22%. 
• Black patients are more likely than white patients to be diagnosed with VAP. 

The report asserts that addressing social conditions, structural racism, access to care, oral health education and other factors may not only improve oral health outcomes but also reduce the risk for COVID-19, VAP and even death in Black communities.

Read and download The Link Between Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia and the Mouth.

Achieving Oral Health for All through Public Health Approaches, Interprofessional and Transdisciplinary Education aims to use newly expanded definitions of oral health—from the World Health Organization and the FDI World Dental Federation (FDI)—to describe opportunities for engaging policy- and decision-makers in ministries, departments of health, and other agencies around the concept of holistic oral health (i.e., mind, mouth, body, soul, and spirit) as it relates to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

To improve access to and use of comprehensive, high-quality oral health care for pregnant women, infants, and children at high risk for oral disease, the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) funded the Networks for Oral Health Integration (NOHI) Within the Maternal and Child Health Safety Net. Three projects were awarded funding for a 5-year period (2019–2024).

Read and download the Networks for Oral Health Integration (NOHI) Within the MCH Safety Net overview.

The Partnership for Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care Project 2019–2021: Final Report discusses the importance of integrating oral health care into primary care, provides information about the implementation of the PIOHCPC project, details project findings and strategies to integrate oral health care into primary care, and highlights TA activities provided to and feedback received from project teams.