Thank you for attending the 2018 NNOHA Conference in New Orleans. We hope you learned some new information and enjoyed the time networking with colleagues. An email with a link to your Continuing Education certificate was sent out via email on Thursday, November 15th. Contact info@nnoha.org with any questions.

Back by popular demand, NNOHA is once again offering this fundamentals course on the basics of running an effective oral health program. Topics include: Financials, Health Center Fundamentals, Leadership, Quality, Risk Management and Workforce & Staffing.

Wayne Cottam, DMD, MS, Mark Koday, DDS, Martin Lieberman, DDS. 

This course will detail how to build your health center dental program through academic partnerships. Utilizing dental students, dental hygiene students, dental residents and private practice dentists/specialists can be an effective way to enhance health center dental programs, increase productivity and capacity, recruit new dental providers, and increase access to dental care for health center patients. This course will offer different perspectives and experiences on becoming an academic health center practice.

Dori Bingham, BA; Mary Coffey, MBA, RN; Steve Geiermann, DDS. 

Is your health center dental program ready for an Operational Site Visit? Is your dental program in compliance with each of the 19 program guidelines? Do you know what the “hot button” items are for Site Surveyors? Would you be ready for an FTCA audit? Learn all of this and more. Bring your toughest questions to the experts, meet peers who have successfully completed a recent OSV and learn about the myths vs. reality when it comes to FTCA.

Allen Finkelstein, DDS. 

Imagine a time when value-based health care is not just a theory but actuality in both the private and public sectors. Instead of being paid by the number of visits, health centers would be reimbursed by the value of care delivered over time with the emphasis upon overall health. Envision a world where quality, affordability and accountability are welcome hallmarks of a patient-centered health home. This session will allow you to begin to identify disruptive innovative changes that will help transfer dental health care’s ability to meet future challenges.

Sherilee Callahan, MPH, Irene Hilton, DDS, MPH, Vy Nguyen, DDS, MPH. 

This year’s presentation will highlight the most successful strategies to increase the percentage of children receiving sealants and increase the HRSA UDS Sealants Measure percentage. Results and trends from the first three years of data for the measure will be shared. Work-arounds to address data collection and reporting will be briefly described for those health centers that are not yet using an EDR vendor-developed solution to collect the data elements of the measure (age, patient of record, risk status, exclusions, and sealants placed). Bring your HRSA UDS Sealants Measure questions!

Paul Glassman, DDS, MA, MBA, Nathan Suter, DDS. 

A large number of people in the U.S. population do not take advantage of the traditional dental care system. At the same time telehealth technology is having an increasing role in the delivery of health care services nationally. It is now possible to reach many members of these underserved groups through expanded, telehealth-connected teams. This presentation will focus on strategies for expanding the reach of health center dental practices using telehealth-connected teams and Virtual Dental Homes. Experiences will be shared from four states engaged in actively adopting this model of care with partners and support from various sectors of the dental industry. Information will be presented about cost-effective methods for expanding practices by incorporating currently underserved populations in a telehealth-connected delivery system. It will include a description of partnership support and training strategies and considerations for working within individual state’s legal and regulatory environments.

Esther Kim Le DA, BSHD, RDHAP, Rachel Lynn, RDH, BSDH, Candace Owen, RDH, MS, MPH, Dana Robinson, BS, RDH, PHDHP. 

Dental hygienists are vital members of the health-care team. Yet there are times when their expertise and capabilities to impact improved patient oral health status, increased access, and much-needed revenue, are not fully drawn upon. With varying state dental hygiene practice acts, dental hygienists can play many roles within community health centers. This panel discussion will highlight three dental hygienists working to the top of their scope within community health centers and teledentistry to inspire dental hygienists to work their way up their own career ladder!

Joana Cunha-Cruz, DDS, PhD, Sharity Ludwig, EPDH, MS, Tina Sopiwnik, DMD. 

This session delivers practical knowledge on how to introduce clinical algorithms and evidence-based care into mobile care systems for children and how these new approaches are integrated into services for the Medicaid clients under managed care. The session addresses the new and innovative use of silver diamine fluoride, povidone iodine, fluoride varnish, and glass ionomer cements for both arrest and prevention of tooth decay, moving care from the surgical to atraumatic medical model.

Wayne Cottam, DMD, MS. 

As communities continue to look for innovative ways to deliver care, telehealth has opened up pathways for healthcare providers to administer services to underserved populations. A. T. Still University, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ASDOH) received a HRSA grant to develop new interprofessional education curriculum, including funds for interprofessional telehealth-connected teams. Patients seen include children/teenagers, adults with special needs, and low-income seniors. ASDOH works with with social services or medical teams to coordinate the delivery of care, including triage, radiographs, exams, and preventive care. ASDOH trains dental students in various areas of teledentistry including program development, technology, and working with medical providers to triage and coordinate care for urgent dental needs.

Brian Nový, DDS. 

Risk assessment makes sense on a philosophical level, but with all the other tasks that need to be completed during patient visits, is it really worth the effort? Do we really need to assess the caries, periodontal, occlusal, oral cancer, and cosmetic risk for each patient? If you’re frustrated by striving to give your patients the best care possible, when every time you turn around, there is a new way to find something wrong, perhaps you’re “done with risk assessments.” Free yourself from the burden of forms and risk assessment tools by developing your own systematic total risk assessment. Combine it with evidence-based therapies and effective measurement tools and watch as your practice is transformed from a dental practice into an oral healthcare office.

Colleen Lampron, MPH, Martin Lieberman, DDS, Rebecca Lipman. 

Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation and the Arcora Foundation worked with NNOHA, Health Center experts and test groups to develop the Health Center Dental Dashboard, which is a set of measures that is an optional tool for Health Centers to use as part of their quality improvement program. This session will feature an overview of these dental measures, as well as recommendations for application at your Health Center. Come and experience real-life examples of how the Dental Dashboard can improve performance within your Health Center.

Jerry Brown, DMD, CDE. 

People with diabetes are at higher risk for periodontal disease. In fact, periodontal disease is the most common dental disease affecting patients with diabetes. Research also suggests that treating gum disease can help improve blood sugar control in patients living with diabetes. This presentation discusses the challenges of patients living with diabetes, the special requirements patients have for regular professional periodontal care, good diet and diligent home care. Dental clinicians will be able to help patients understand how personal partnership with their dental health provider can help them manage their overall health with the goal of lowering their HbA1c and decreasing periodontal infection.

Janelle Jehn, CADT, BS, Mark Koday, DDS, MiQuel McRae, RDH, CDHC, Brian Quinlan, DDS. 

Many individuals experience difficulty accessing oral health care, especially within dental health provider shortage areas. There are emerging new dental team members, who can innovatively address the health care needs of underserved individuals and communities. Health Center-based dental therapists and community dental health coordinators (CDHCs) will discuss their role within their health center, the benefits of incorporating dental therapists and CDHCs, and propose strategies how you can use these “new” members of the dental team to increase efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and profitability (no margin/no mission) within your health center.

Holly Kingsbury, MPH, Katya Mauritson, DMD, Carol Niforatos, DDS. 

Integrating Diabetes Prevention and Management and Oral Health: Lessons Learned from a Pilot Project. This session will support participants’ efforts to integrate diabetes prevention and management and oral health using quality improvement tools. The session will also identify possible next steps to explore integration for other chronic diseases and opportunities to support integration at a whole-systems level.

Janine Musheno, DMD, Candace Owen, RDH, MS, MPH. 

This session welcomes dental hygienists and other dental providers to discuss the concept of prioritizing dental sealants during child prophy visits for more effective caries prevention. Research shows the dental sealants are one if not the most effective method of preventing caries in children. This session will present the clinical research supporting dental sealants for arresting and preventing dental caries. It will also discuss the importance of employing strategies to implement the practice of prioritizing sealants first during dental hygiene visits.

Mary Otto, Phillip Thompson. 

In March 2017 the New Press published Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America. In this widely acclaimed study of oral health care in America, Mary Otto tells the story of the history of dentistry in America from its beginnings in the 1840s, the struggle for access to care, and how the politics and business of dentistry affect one another and our society. From the book jacket, “Teeth takes readers on a disturbing journey into America’s silent epidemic of oral disease.” Mary Otto and Phillip Thompson will discuss many of the important stories of oral health care inequalities and their origins covered in the book and will ask audience members to share their insights gleaned from their own work in the oral health safety net.

Christine Cogil, DNP, FNP-BC. 

This session provides an exemplar of oral assessment integration into primary care. The presenter will discuss strategies for implementation, including the involvement of nearly every member of the clinic staff. The presentation includes tools used for oral risk assessment, a quick oral exam and dental referral to integrate an oral assessment into overall care. The results of a patient satisfaction survey about the implementation of oral assessment into primary care will be shared.

Fred Leviton, Scott Wolpin, DMD. 

The Dental Lifeline Network (DLN) sponsored Donated Dental Services (DDS) program provides free, comprehensive dental treatment to our country’s most vulnerable people with disabilities or who are elderly or medically fragile. These are people who cannot afford necessary treatment and cannot get public aid. The program operates through a volunteer network of more than 15,000 dentists and 3,500 dental labs across the United States. Since its inception in 1985, this program has surpassed $330 million in donated dental services, transforming the lives of 117,000 people. On Veteran’s Day 2018, DLN will ask its cadre of volunteer dentists to provide comprehensive dental treatment to one veteran, who is either disabled, elderly or medically fragile, each year in their offices. A commendable endeavor and much needed as only one out of ten veterans qualify for dental care through their VA benefits. So what does this have to do with Health Centers? When the veterans finish their comprehensive dental treatment, they will need an established dental home for ongoing maintenance and periodic recalls. That is where FQHCs can come in. Think about it. That veteran could have sought care at your health center as “no one is refused care due to inability to pay,” but instead they were gifted with the restoration of their oral health by the DDS program. Your health center is being asked to accept an individual who has already had their dental work completed and just needs routine follow up. It is a gift as the veteran gets continuity of care and the health center can cite its participation in this program in their annual narrative for their 330 continuation or competitive grant. The current Administration has a strong commitment to these veterans and their health care. It is a win/win for everyone. Come, listen and hear how you too can play a role in this exciting new endeavor.