National Oral Health IPC & AR/HAI Training Partnership - OSAP Foundation, Inc. (doing business as Association for Dental Safety Foundation; “ADS”) proposes a national initiative under CDC-RFA-CK-26-0107 to strengthen infection prevention and control (IPC) and antibiotic resistance/healthcare-associated infection (AR/HAI) prevention across oral healthcare. The project’s purpose is to accelerate adoption of CDC guidance, improve workforce competency, and enhance sector-wide preparedness and rapid response to emerging infectious diseases in dental practices, community health centers (CHCs), federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), academic clinics, mobile programs, and large group practices. ADS will operate as a coordination hub linking state, territorial, and local public health partners with the oral healthcare community, supported by robust project management, data pipelines, dashboards, and surge protocols. The project translates CDC guidance into practical, setting-specific tools—including toolkits, checklists, decision trees, policy templates, patient communications, and quick-start guides—and disseminates them through newsletters, webinars, conferences, and partner networks. With CDC approval, ADS will print and distribute the Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care booklet and maintain the Ask ADS AI assistant to provide real-time, CDC-aligned technical assistance while analyzing query trends to identify content gaps and target outreach. Continuous field intelligence will inform rapid updates. ADS will gather input via surveys, listening sessions, focus groups, and environmental scans; analyze digital signals from websites, learning platforms, and helpdesk interactions; and convene multidisciplinary experts through the ADS Institute for Dental Safety and Science to interpret findings and issue evidence‑informed updates, including current work on dental unit waterlines. Education and training will span live webinars on emerging pathogens, an updated CDC Foundations: Building the Safest Dental Visit training, a CE-eligible podcast series, enhancements to ADS’s Dental Infection Control Boot Camp, advanced train‑the‑trainer programs focused on AR/HAI, and collaboration with academic partners to embed stewardship concepts into dental curricula. Preparedness efforts will deliver outbreak response toolkits (e.g., pertussis) with step‑by‑step guidance, just‑in‑time communications and job aids, respirator readiness resources, and pre‑positioned subject matter experts to support rapid, consistent messaging across the sector. To scale and sustain impact, ADS will refine the Antibiotic Stewardship for Oral Health website with role‑specific resources for policymakers, prescribers, teams, and patients; formalize a national AR/HAI champions network; expand evaluation capacity to track reach, adoption, and user satisfaction; embed content into partner conferences and continuing education; and implement maintenance and governance plans for key tools such as Ask ADS and outbreak toolkits. Expected outcomes include greater reach and adoption of CDC IPC and AR/HAI guidance; faster, more coordinated responses to emerging threats; improved workforce competency; evidence-informed updates to practice guidance; stronger preparedness and continuity-of-operations planning; enhanced stewardship awareness and implementation; and equity gains through plain‑language, bilingual, and culturally responsive materials. Progress will be tracked through core KPIs and dashboards, routine implementation and learning reviews, feedback reports to CDC summarizing field experience and recommendations, and transparent public change logs that document updates and “What’s New” notes.
