State Actions to Improve Oral Health Outcomes

The “State Actions to Improve Oral Health Outcomes” program is a five-year competitive renewal to continue CDC investment in and support for state oral health programs. The purpose is to assist States to decrease dental caries, oral health disparities, and other co-morbid chronic diseases associated with poor oral health outcomes. Recipients under this program will accomplish these outcomes through implementing priority strategies school sealant programs (including promoting adherence to infection prevention guidelines), supporting and increasing community water fluoridation, conducting state oral health surveillance, and optionally integrating oral health with other chronic disease programs (i.e., medical-dental integration). The proposed program will replace FOA 13-1307 [FY 2013-FY 2018]. It will also incorporate important programmatic strategies currently being implemented in FOA 16-1609 [FY 2016-FY 2017] Models of Collaboration among Chronic Diseases and Oral Health Programs, to support enhanced medical-dental integration and provide improved quality of care. The public health impact resulting from the successful implementation of priority strategies will result in long-term outcomes of decreases in dental caries, oral health disparities and other chronic co-morbid diseases.