California Dental Support Center 2020-25 - The California Dental Support Center (CA DSC) housed at the California Rural Indian Health Board Inc. (CRIHB) is applying for the Indian Health Service (IHS) Dental Preventive and Clinical Support Centers Grant for the grant period September 30, 2020–September 29, 2025. There are 36 Tribal/Urban Indian dental clinics in California that operate 58 dental clinic sites, which serve the largest American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) population in the United States. The CA DSC is requesting $250,000 per year for a grant period of 5 years to provide training, technical assistance, education, and support to California Tribal/Urban Indian dental professionals and Tribal Head Starts/Early Head Starts/Childcare centers. These funds will help promote community and clinic-based oral health initiatives targeting AIAN pregnant women, children, youth, and adults throughout California. Over the last decade, the CA DSC has successfully established a partnership with the 36 California Tribal/Urban Indian dental clinics. It has served as the go-to organization by providing state-mandated training courses, hands-on courses, and facilitating the annual Continuing Dental Education Conference to over 400 dentists, registered dental hygienists, registered dental assistants, dental assistants, and front office staff in California. As a result, California dental health professionals can expand and increase their knowledge base and be better prepared to address the AIAN community's current and emerging oral health needs. The California DSC also supports Tribal/Urban Indian dental clinics to implement oral disease prevention initiatives. These initiatives, based upon well-established prevention guidelines, are aimed at reducing the prevalence of early childhood caries, reducing the prevalence of oral disease, including periodontal disease among the Tribal population to include; pregnant mothers, children, youth, and adults. The California DSC will provide ongoing assistance for all 36 Tribal/Urban Indian dental clinics to achieve two oral health GPRA measures: 1.) increase access to dental care and 2.) increase topical fluoride application. Lastly, the community-based initiatives will target children ages 0-5 years through Head Start, Early Head Start, Tribal Childcare centers, and Tribal home health advocates to promote oral health awareness, increase fluoride varnish applications, and collaborate with IHS to conduct baseline screening surveys. There are 109 federally recognized Tribes in California, with most located in remote and rural areas, which can pose a problem for access to care and addressing oral health disparities. AIAN children and adults who experience tooth decay at a higher rate than the general U.S. population. The 2018-2019 IHS Oral Health Survey showed that AIAN children have the highest tooth decay level, more than four times higher than white non-Hispanic children, and one out of every six one-year-old AIAN children suffer from early childhood caries. Also, per the 2015 IHS Oral Health Survey, AIAN adults ages 35–49 years old, 64% have untreated caries compared to 27% of the general U.S. population. AIAN adults 65 years and older have almost three times as much untreated decay as U.S. White adults. This current grant cycle of funding will allow the California DSC to continue providing support and resources to Tribal/Urban Indian dental clinics, which will help improve the oral health needs of the AIAN population in California. Dental health professionals will also enhance their skills while implementing and improving oral health clinic and community-based initiatives.
