Beyond the Smile 2024 | Alternative Methods for Dental Care Delivery: School-Based Service

Joint Providers:  Zufall Health & NJHA/HRET

Speakers
Mary Beth Giacona, DDS, MPH
Zufall Health

Daniel Barrantes
Zufall Health

Though largely preventable, dental caries still affects millions of children worldwide. Like most chronic diseases, dental caries adversely affects certain populations more than others. Children living in low-income households and children who are racial/ethnic minorities are at a greater risk for dental caries. Interventions targeted at these high-risk children should be prioritized to increase health equity, improve population health, and save the US health system millions of dollars by averting the need for costly dental treatment. This presentation focuses on ways to deliver high-quality, evidence-based interventions to the most vulnerable populations. Using alternative methods to provide preventive dental interventions can eliminate barriers to access to care and will improve oral health at the individual and population levels.

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:
 

• Gain a deeper understanding of how health disparities affecting pediatric populations in the United States can have a lifelong negative impact on oral health.
• Identify alternative methods of care delivery that help overcome barriers to accessing care in underserved populations.
• Understand how alternative methods of care delivery benefit patients, their families, healthcare providers, and the environment.