The Oral Health Forum’s unique programmatic approach is concentrated on two distinct areas: education and case management.
Education Program Summary
Public health attention to oral health care remains inadequate as evidenced by prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease in general and especially in low-income communities. These common oral infections are almost completely preventable with education, effective self-care and timely access to professional oral health intervention. The Oral Health Forum (OHF) works with the public health system, key oral health care providers and community leaders to coordinate, expand, and improve existing oral health resources in health promotion, prevention and treatment.
In 2012, the OHF developed a comprehensive oral health education curriculum for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. This was presented to and endorsed by the Health and Wellness Materials Review Committee of Chicago Public Schools. To implement this health education initiative in schools, the oral health educators work closely with staff from the Chicago Department of Public Health, CPS’s Health and Wellness Office and directly with school administrators.
The OHF OHEP serves Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. OHF presenters visit schools that are part of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) School-Based Oral Health Program (SBOHP), a program that facilitates dental teams’ visits to CPS. All students qualify to receive oral assessment, dental cleaning, fluoride treatment, and dental sealant (s), if signed consent is provided by a parent/caregiver. Because students from low-income homes are at an increased risk for experiencing oral disease, the OHF OHEP visits schools with the greatest proportion of students who are low-income and thus who are in most need of its preventive education services.
Download the full summary (PDF).
Case Management Program Summary
Public health attention to oral health care remains inadequate as evidenced by prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease in general and especially in low-income communities. These common oral infections are almost completely preventable with education, effective self-care and timely access to professional oral health intervention. The Oral Health Forum (OHF) works with the public health system, key oral health care providers and community leaders to coordinate, expand, and improve existing oral health resources in health promotion, prevention and treatment.
School based prevention services are convenient, efficient and can effectively reach low-income children that are at high risk for dental diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis and periodontal disease. Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) through its School-based Oral Health Program has identified challenges obtaining follow up care for the Chicago Public School (CPS) children identified as having urgent dental treatment needs. A major barrier to treatment plan completion has been that the CDPH case management system is limited by staffing capacity to conduct year-round, multiple follow-up interactions with families. This recognition and concern led to restructuring and creation of the Dental Case Management (CM) Pilot Project. This project is an intensive collaboration between CDPH and OHF with the focus in two zip code areas of the city (60623, 60629 and 60632) where children are highly affected by urgent dental needs.
Download the full summary (PDF).
Additional Oral Health Forum Initiatives:
- Utilization of Emergency Departments for Non-Traumatic Dental Care in Illinois – 2010 to 2014 Program Brief (PDF)
- Chicago Area Oral Health Plan, 2012 (PDF)
- Illinois Dental Workforce Census Summary Report 2015 (PDF)
- Chicago Area Oral Health Plan, 2017 (PDF)
- Oral Health Progress and Equity Network
- Leading Chicago Children to Oral Health Improvement: A Health Equity Approach Case Story (PDF)
