Friday, April 4, 2025
4/4/2025
Michigan Strategies to Promote and Advance Oral Health [ - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Oral Health Program (OHP) is applying for the CDC–RFA-DP-24-0048 Cooperative Agreement State Promotion of Strategies to Advance Oral Health. The OHP plans to focus on the use of Evidence-based Preventive Dental Services (EBPDS) by expanding the use of sealants and fluoride varnish programs within the SEAL! Michigan school-based dental sealant program targeting rural communities and students who are meet the economically disadvantaged criteria. In addition, we will address the other three objectives of increasing the number of people who reside in communities with water systems serving 10,000 or fewer people to access community water fluoridation, increasing awareness of infection prevention and control practices within EBPDS school programs and improving data analysis to support medical dental integration to describe the relationship between the oral health of people with diabetes. The OHP will collaborate with various internal and external partners and organizations to assist in improving the oral health status of Michigan residents. In Michigan, several population groups are disproportionately affected by oral disease and inadequate access to oral health care; these groups include people with lower incomes, people living in rural communities, and people of Black or African American race. To center interventions in areas of highest need, the OHP used multiple data sources related to oral healthcare use and social vulnerability indicators to identify nine counties of focus. Within these counties, the OHP will carry out a suite of strategies. These strategies will entail activities designed to increase use and access to evidence-based preventive dental services (EBPDS), enhance quality control and management of fluoridated water systems, improve the capacity of data systems to describe relationships between oral health and people living with diabetes (PLWD), and support and promote infection prevention and control (IPC) in dental settings. Specifically, the OHP will expand the use of sealants and fluoride varnish programs within the SEAL! Michigan school-based dental sealant program, support communities with water systems serving 10,000 or fewer people through fluoridation equipment grants and educational resources, identify and incorporate processes to collect data on the oral health and diabetes status of Medicaid enrolled beneficiaries, and to collaborate with Michigan’s Infection Prevention Resource and Assessment Team (IPRAT) to address infection prevention and control practices within the SEAL! Michigan school-based dental sealant program. The OHP partner with Wingspan Research to develop a robust evaluation plan that captures all the measurable outcomes for the numerous activities. If effective, the OHP will initiate community-level and system-level changes that increase access to preventive dental care and reduce the burden of oral disease, particularly in populations of high need.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).