About Us
- About Us
About Healthy Teeth Healthy Children
Healthy Teeth Healthy Children has held over 340 Oral Health in Your Office trainings at academic programs, medical offices, residency programs, and webinars from 2012-2023. We have trained over 4,000 participants (including MDs, DOs, NPs, RNs, PAs, LPNs, MAs, administrative staff, and more) in topical fluoride varnish application in the medical office and held trainings in over 75% of Pennsylvania counties. Email us at [email protected] to set up a training today!
Healthy Teeth, Healthy Children: A Medical/Dental Partnership (HTHC), a program of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (PA AAP), is a state-wide educational program focused on improving the oral health of children and families by providing oral health education to primary care providers, expanding oral health literacy for the community and creating and participating in integrative partnerships that enhance the oral and overall health of children and families in PA.
Oral Health Education for Medical Providers and Allied Professionals
Through the EPIC (Educating Physicians in the Community) model, HTHC delivers live on-site or remote training across the state to pediatric and prenatal clinicians with their staff, medical residents and medical students through two programs:
- Oral Health in Your Office (60-90min) – focusing on conducting pediatric oral health screenings and risk assessment, fluoride varnish application to age 20 and associated technical assistance, oral health coding and billing, and dental referral
- Oral Health in the Prenatal Office (60min) – focusing on promoting good oral health practices for pregnant women.
Since 2011 HTHC has delivered more than 340 trainings, reaching over 4,000 medical providers and allied health professionals in >75% of Pennsylvania’s counties. The Oral Health in Your Office course provides the certificate required for Medicaid reimbursement for fluoride varnish application in Pennsylvania, as well as 1.0-1.5 units CME credit (provided through UPMC) for participants.
Our Oral Health Through the Lifespan on-demand webinar was developed specifically for medical training programs as a free resource for curriculum integration. This overview course addresses the impact of dental disease throughout several life stages including pregnancy, childhood, middle age and senior adulthood and shows how medical-dental integration contributes to comprehensive, high-quality care for all patients.
For more information or to schedule a training, please contact [email protected].
Enhancing Oral Health Literacy for the Community
In addition to supporting physicians, HTHC is dedicated to educating community members on the importance of oral health to overall health and has launched a variety of oral health literacy programs, including:
- Oral Health Framework for Telehealth – the most recent HTHC program aimed at spreading oral health prevention education to the public via QR code links to brief videos (less than 1 minute long) about oral health prevention;
- Links to free printable oral health resources for care providers and community members, including posters, flyers, stickers, bookmarks and more (many translated into multiple languages);
- Oral Health Community Engagement Kits for groups, university programs and clubs promoting and supporting oral health community outreach and service-learning opportunities; and
- Oral Health Story Kits providing basic oral health education for use by libraries, home visitors, community organizations and early learning programs that encourage good oral health habits for children and families in their communities.
HTHC is developing new community-based projects that strategically engage local agencies and organizations to expand community-wide oral health education and establish sustainable local oral health networks.
Visit our Resources page to download free materials or contact [email protected] for more information about available printed materials or community education kits.
Program Staff:
- Kristin Haegele Hill, MS
- Jacqueline Pugliese
Chapter Oral Health Advocates:
- Eve Kimball, MD
- Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO, FAAP
- Dakota Peterson, MD
Milestones of Success
March
2008
Dr. Leslie Carroll and Dr. Eve Kimball receive an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) grant for oral health trainings at their practices in Allentown and Reading
December
2008
Dr. Eve Kimball becomes the first Chapter Oral Health Advocate (COHA) for the PA Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics and begins giving presentations on fluoride varnish application to physicians in Eastern PA.
April
2010
CPT code D1206 available for physicians to bill Medicaid for application of Topical Fluoride Varnish (TFV), oral health risk assessment, screening exam, education, and referral in one code (due to the efforts of Amos Deinard, MD; Suzanne Yunghans, Chapter CEO; David Kelley, MD; Paul Westerberg, DMD; Howard Tolchinsky, DMD; and Eve Kimball, MD).
October
2011
PAAAP awarded initial Oral Health 2014 planning grant by DentaQuest Foundation to develop and provide oral health training to medical providers across Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Healthy Teeth, Healthy Children: A Medical/Dental Partnership was born!
January
2012
The first HTHC Advisory Committee meeting (with assistance from Lisa Schildhorn) was held with 20+ participants from across the state in attendance.
March
2012
Thomas J Maroon, MD and Eve Kimball, MD begin presenting pilot editions of the Oral Health in Your Office course to medical offices across the state.
October
2012
Received an implementation grant from the DentaQuest Foundation to continue and expand oral health training to medical providers across PA, as well as further develop the program into a centralized organization of oral health advocates that facilitate collaboration and network building among key stakeholders throughout the state.
EPIC Oral Health in Your Office trainings begin.
EPIC Oral Health in Your Office trainings begin.
January
2013
HTHC develops Healthy Mouth, Healthy Food, Healthy Children educational flyer for medical offices, available in multiple languages.
June
2013
HTHC develops Fluoride Varnish educational flyer for medical offices.
October
2013
DentaQuest renews implementation grant and HTHC trains a cadre of medical and dental trainers
March
2014
St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children begins implementing oral health services after all pediatric attendings and residents receive HTHC training.
May
2014
United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that primary care clinicians apply fluoride varnish to the primary teeth of all infants and children starting at the age of primary tooth eruption (Grade B Recommendation).
December
2014
HTHC/PA AAP receives funding from DentaQuest Foundation to support the formation of a collective impact initiative in Pennsylvania (POHCII) with partner organizations Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health (PCOH), Pennsylvania Head Start Association (PHSA) and Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) as part of their Oral Health 2020 initiative
August
2015
EPIC Oral Health in the Prenatal Office curriculum developed, and trainings begin.
September
2015
TFV code changed from D1206 to CPT 99188 for PA Medicaid. Commercial insurers must be compliant with USPSTF recommendation regarding TFV application, reimbursing for this service using CPT code 99188 and HTHC begins advocacy for all commercial insurers to pay for it comparable to Medicaid payors.
October
2015
HTHC Oral Health Literacy Community Engagement Kit developed and launched.
December
2015
DentaQuest renews grant for PA Oral Health Collective Impact Initiative (POHCII)
December
2015
HTHC Oral Health Story Kits developed. Piloted in Reading, PA and expanded in May 2016 to public libraries and with university partners across the state.
February
2016
PA Department of Human Services promotes HTHC as an approved certification option for application of TFV.
December
2016
DentaQuest renews grant for PA Oral Health Collective Impact Initiative (POHCII)
December
2017
DentaQuest renews grant for PA Oral Health Collective Impact Initiative (POHCII) for a final time. Over 350 Oral Health in Your Office trainings completed since 2008
2019 - 2022
HTHC receives grant funding from HRSA, CDC, and the state of PA through PCOH.
June
2020
HTHC adapts the Oral Health in Your Office training for remote delivery due to COVID-19. Annual updates have been performed to the curriculum since its inception.
January
2022
Oral Health Framework for Telehealth project rollout underwritten with a grant from CareQuest Foundation.
August
2022
PA Department of Health issues Medicaid Assistance Bulletin #99-22-05. Topical fluoride varnish application is now reimbursable by Medicaid up to age 20, up to 4 times a year.
October
2022
The AMA approves a new category III CPT code (0792T) for the application of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) used by medical teams to arrest dental decay without a dental filling, effective July 1, 2023. HTHC begins exploring ways to support SDF application in the medical office.
January
2023
First OHFT pilot of the oral health Badge Buddy in two Pittsburgh residency practices.
Partners
HTHC is a proud member of the Family Oral Health Collective.
Healthy Teeth Healthy Children has held over 340 Oral Health in Your Office trainings at academic programs, medical offices, residency programs, and webinars from 2012-2023. We have trained over 4,000 participants (including MDs, DOs, NPs, RNs, PAs, LPNs, MAs, administrative staff, and more) in topical fluoride varnish application in the medical office and held trainings in over 75% of Pennsylvania counties. Email us at [email protected] to set up a training today!