Dr. Margaret Snow

Transitioning from the national to a state view, Dr. Margaret Snow, DMD, MPH, MBA, NH Dental Director, provided an update on the NH Building Capacity for Transformation 1115 Waiver Dental Pilot Project and related benefits plus an overview of Pregnancy: A National Consensus Statement document. The Waiver remains under consideration by the Centers on Medicare and Medicaid and NHOHC will provide updates throughout the process. 

NH Pediatric Society Luncheon

Panel #1 - So You Want to Be a Public Health Oral Health Practitioner

Networking lunches were provided in three locations allowing the opportunity for inter-professional discussion and relationship-building. Invitational professional association lunches were hosted by Drs. Hugh Silk and Suzanne Boulter for the NH Pediatric Society; and Drs. Marko Vujicic and Sarah Finne for the NH Dental Society. Post-lunch plenary panels focused on service at the community level. Panel #1 - So You Want to Be a Public Health Oral Health Practitioner addressed public health hygiene education and opportunities. Panelists included BJ Brown, RDH, Margaret Ray, MEd, RDH - Concord's Community College, Francine Morgan, MBA - The Molar Express and Ray Orzechowski, DMD - the Concord Sealant Coalition. Panel #2 - Exploring Medical Dental Integration, featured Hugh Silk, MD; Skip Homicz, DDS; and the obstetric team of Joe Ebner, MD and Ruth Doane, RDH. 

 
It was a highly interactive and successful day. We met our goals for identifying emerging public health hygiene opportunities and medical dental interface; while fostering the inter-professional clinical and training relationships needed to develop a strong medical and dental referral network. Continuing education credits were granted to over 70 dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, physicians/medical providers, nurses and other allied health professionals. NHOHC videotaped Dr. Vujicic's presentation and it is available for viewing by small groups - for more information contact Gail T. Brown. Special thanks to the planning committee, speakers and panelists, our operational and program funders and, the NH Dental Society for a hot and healthy breakfast to start the day. Planning is already in the works for the 2015 event - Live at the Forum!

With the expansion and strengthening of NH's Oral Health 2014 Network, NHOHC staff and members have been invited to participate in recent national events with funders and partners from across the nation. 

 In September, NHOHC Director, Gail T. Brown, was invited to attend the PEW Charitable Trust Washington, D.C. convening on "Expanding the Dental Team and Improving Access: Building Momentum for the Change". PEW Children's Initiative Director Shelly Gehshen's opening remarks addressed "transformational change...identifying when need creates opportunity." With an eye on the national picture, Gehshen focused on continued disparities in access, concerns about affordability and the holes in our safety net, and the importance of consumer choice. Dr. Bill Maas, PEW consultant with the fluoride and sealant campaigns reminded attendees that we best serve when all providers work to the "top of their practice limits." Additional NH attendees included Sarah Aiken - Community Support Network, Inc., Erika Argersinger and Laurel Redden - NH Kids Count, Charlie Arlinghaus - Josiah Bartlett Center, and Senator Jeff Woodburn - State Senator. This was an excellent opportunity to learn about models of dental hygiene and dental therapy across the country. NHOHC will be providing a follow-up Workforce Webinar, hosted by our Reimbursement and Referral Network Work Teams on Dr. Paul Glassman's public health hygienist teledentistry model that is currently serving 41 sites; the practitioner scope of practice model is similar to our new NH - Certified Public Health Hygienist. If you are interested in this Webinar, please email gbrown@nhoralhealth.org. 

 In October, staff members Gail T. Brown and Jane Goodman attended the New England Rural Health Conference in Westford, MA presented by the New England Rural Health Roundtable (NHRHRT). The conference combined the Rural Health Symposium, Leadership+Networking Summit, and Oral Health Symposium into a single series. NHOHC members Sharon Beaty and Nancy DuMont serve on the NHRHRT Executive Committee. NH speakers, panelists and moderators included Joe Harding - NH DHHS, Lisa Mure and Eric Turer - the John Snow Institute, Nancy DuMont - Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, and Nancy Martin - NH DHHS/Oral Health Program. Keynote Speaker, Christie Hager, US DHHS framed the discussion for the day by noting that "rural Americans are more likely to have chronic disease...likely to be less educated than their urban counterparts and more likely to be on food stamps, uninsured, and have fewer health resources." Messaging for the Oral Health Day emphasized the growing understanding and relationship between medical and dental providers in ensuring access and effective service to rural populations. Oral health keynote speaker, Dr. Hugh Silk, University of Massachusetts Medical School, provided an overview on the role of the medical provider in addressing oral health; and the range of medical dental interface that exists in the medical setting including pediatric, geriatric, obstetric, pharmaceutical, behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse treatment.  

 In alignment with our DentaQuest Foundation Oral Health 2014 grants, NHOHC staff, Jane Goodman and Gail T. Brown, joined over 150 DentaQuest Foundation grantees from around the nation in Philadelphia, including NHOHC Steering Committee members Stephanie Pagliuca and Mary Vallier Kaplan who is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the DentaQuest Foundation and their Program Committee Chair, to participate in the next stage of work entitled Strengthening the Core: From Network to Social Movement. The convening was the transitional link from network building at the state level to activating advocacy activity at the state and national levels. Welcomed by DentaQuest Foundation Chief Mission Officer, Ralph Fuccillo, and inspired by Scott Harshbarger, former Attorney General of Massachusetts, grantees were urged to consider, "How can we act differently together to engage the broadest possible community in acting on the importance of optimal oral health? How can we move beyond diversity and inclusion, to equity?"

Grantee-focused training included a series of presentations and interactive activities aimed at increasing grantee understanding of: 

• Recent turning points in the oral health landscape and our contributions to accomplishing them;
• The current reality and a few success stories for each told through success stories for each Oral Health 2020 target and environmental support project; and 
• DentaQuest Foundation's emerging grassroots strategy with future roles for grantees in supporting the work.

Presentations were "hands-on" with multiple opportunities to exchange ideas with other state representatives. Topics explored included oral health disparity including the use of a racial equity lens focus on future planning, skill development with inquiry and advocacy tools, and discussion of potential strategies and tactics that can help states engage local communities and additional stakeholders. In addition, grantees had the opportunity to take a deep look inward at our own backgrounds which forced us to reflect on how effectively and thoughtfully we accomplish our work. DentaQuest Foundation is developing new community-level grant opportunities to help provide further depth to their state and national efforts. If your organization is interested in those opportunities, please find the guidelines on the DentaQuest Oral Health 2020 Grants Page.

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