State Promotion of Strategies to Advance Oral Health - Project Overview: The CDC’s “State Promotions of Strategies to Advance Oral Health” is a three-year grant that provides the opportunity for oral health programs to focus on promotional strategies to expand and enhance oral health activities and initiatives that address oral health disparities, improve health literacy, advance medical-dental integration practices and significantly impact high-risk populations. This grant builds upon previous funding opportunities made available through CDC, and it highlights their continued investment and support for increasing oral health promotion and disease prevention programs that improve poor oral health outcomes. The Kansas Bureau of Oral Health (KBOH) will develop and implement impactful, results-focused, sustainable strategies that will promote projects and initiatives that align with our mission to improve oral health across the state and across the lifespan. These strategies will prioritize initiatives and programs centered on evidence-based preventive dental services (EBPDS) specifically at high-needs schools and communities, infection prevention and control services, medical-dental integration collaborations and community water fluoridation efforts. The successful implementation of the proposed strategies will result in improved oral health outcomes, improved oral health awareness, and improved overall health while decreasing health disparities and barriers to care. The integral work that was made possible in the past five years by the previous NOFO will now be expanded to promote new and existing oral health projects that address oral health disparities in high-risk populations throughout the state in need of enhanced oral health efforts based on data analysis from the KS School Screening and Sealant Programs; KS Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS); Water Fluoridation Reporting System (WFRS), state surveillance system utilizing Basic Screening Surveys (BSS) and partner collaborations. CDC-RFA-DP-24-0048 will allow KBOH to 1.) Promote new School Sealant Program enrollment in high-risk schools while expanding existing school sealant programs. 2.) Support community water fluoridation participation in communities not currently at optimally fluoridated levels 3.) Incorporate medical-dental collaboration strategies focusing on improving oral health in populations affected by diabetes. 4.) Utilize existing surveillance applications to monitor prevalence and trends that can influence programmatic and policy decision-making decisions directly aimed at improving oral health in our communities.
