First 5 California has a kit for new parents that includes the latest California Parent Guide, a Baby's 1st touch and feel book, and lots of other great information to get new parents and their newborn on track to health and wellness.  The new Parent Guide also includes guidance on oral health to help keep baby's teeth healthy.
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Kits are available in English and Spanish, and are free to order and can be ordered in quantities of 5-5oo.  

Providers are welcome to order these kits by contacting Vicki Law at [email protected] or by phone at (831) 726-6459.   

Coming in April of 2019, HealthRIGHT 360 Dental Clinic will serve children 0-18 years old and patients with Denti-Cal.  Scheduling for appointments is expecting to open as early as March 2019.
For appointments, call (415) 742-8520.

These free events kick off  National Children's Dental Health Month in February!

Families can take their children for free dental screenings and preventive care  ~  to get familiar with their local dental clinic and staff, while enjoying fun games and gifts for the kids and families! 
Flyers for the event are available for download in English, Spanish, and Chinese. ​

Share this information widely with your patients, clients and community members.  

The enrollment for Dental Access Collaborative for 2019 is now open.  Deadline for registration is January 9, 2019.  Enroll here.

The Collaborative will teach dental clinics how to administer efficient clinic systems and provide quality preventive services to Denti-Cal beneficiaries in a sustainable manner. It will provide dental clinics with opportunities to learn and practice the skills they need to integrate continuous quality improvement into their ongoing and daily work. 

Participating dental clinics are expected to:

1. Form an Improvement team with other individuals from your clinic
2. Attend three in-person Learning Session trainings (two days each) with your Improvement team and participate in monthly one-hour webinar calls
3. Comply with all data collection and reporting aspects of the Collaborative
4. Currently see children 0-5, OR be willing to learn how through the support of the Collaborative.

Participating dental clinics will receive:

1. A stipend of $1,000 per day for up to six days (not to exceed $6,000) for your Improvement team to attend the three in-person Learning Sessions (two days each). This is intended to help offset the costs of staff time out of your clinic.
2. The offering of CDE credits for attending in-person Learning Sessions.
3. The opportunity to be mentored by a pediatric dentist who will support you in caring for patients 0-5 years old. 

  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

 Howard County Unsweetened, a coalition in Howard County Maryland promoting healthier beverage choices, created a series of 30 second ads for Halloween. Learn more at DrinksInDisguise.org

The Fall issue of the SF DTI Newsletter is now available.  This issue includes the latest kindergarten oral health screening data, links to the new Medi-Cal dental programs (Denti-Cal) website, and more.
Read the latest issue here.   

Medi-Cal Dental Programs (Denti-Cal) announced their new Smile, California website, http://smilecalifornia.org/. 

The new website is available in English and Spanish and has many resources  on dental coverage and oral health for Medi-Cal members.  Useful resources include a Covered Services page with a breakdown of Medi-Cal covered dental services by age groups, tips on dental visits and oral health care, as well as a section for Partners and Providers with oral health education and outreach resources including videos, presentation slide decks and webinars.  

Many thanks to NICOS Chinese health Coalition, the lead agency of the Chinatown Community Oral Health Taskforce for sharing these interesting articles on oral health disparities and oral health in Asian American communities. 
List of Articles

• How Chinese differ from Westerners in Oral Health (Ruggles Media)
• Oral Health Disparities and Inequities in Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (American Journal of Public Health)
• Asian-Americans Face Barriers in Oral Healthcare (Dentistry Today)
• Dental Health Is Worse in Communities of Color (Pew Charitable Trust)
• How Dental Inequality Hurts Americans (New York Times)
  

 

Developed by Children’s Dental Health Project in partnership with the Child Care Health Program at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, this infographic is available in English, Spanish and Chinese to promote that dental care is both safe and important during pregnancy.  You can download the PDF versions of the infographic here.  

Bay Area Nutrition & Physical Activity Collaborative (BANPAC), Kaiser Permanente, and Shape Up San Francisco developed a fact sheet on tap water available in English, Spanish and Chinese.  You can download the bilingual fact sheets, links below, to share with your patients and your community.  ​

Healthy People 2020 released a new oral health infographic in May.  View the new inforgraphic here, and explore the latest oral health data here.  

California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) has launched its Open Data Portal initiative to increase public access to non-confidential health and human services data to spark innovation, promote research and economic opportunities, engage public participation in government, increase transparency, and inform decision-making. 

You can access a variety of health and human services related datasets, including statewide dental datasets on California Health and Human Services Open Data Portal:  https://data.chhs.ca.gov/.

The California Oral Health Plan 2018-2028 is developed by the California Department of Public Health Oral Health Program and serves as a roadmap to identify priorities, short term, intermediate, and long term goals and objectives along with recommendations to address the burden of disease, increase access to oral health services for high risk populations, and to increase the oral health status of all Californians.  Download the California Oral Health Plan.  

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