Medical Dental Integration in Wisconsin: Integrating dental hygienists into pediatric well child visits and prenatal care. J Dent Hyg 2023 Jun;97(3):13-20
Date
06/07/2023Pubmed ID
37280104Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85161093003 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)Abstract
Disparities exist in access to early oral health care, disproportionately impacting minority ethnic groups and populations with low socio-economic status. Medical dental integration provides an opportunity to create a new dental access point for early prevention and intervention as well as care coordination. The Wisconsin Medical Dental Integration (WI-MDI) model expanded early access to preventive oral health services by integrating dental hygienists (DHs) into pediatric primary care and prenatal care teams to address oral health inequities with the goal of reducing dental disease. This case study will describe how DHs were incorporated into the medical care teams in Wisconsin and how legislation expanding scope of practice made this possible. Since 2019, five federally qualified health systems, one non-profit clinic, and two large health systems have enrolled in the WI-MDI project. Thirteen DHs have worked across nine clinics in the WI-MDI project and over 15,000 patient visits to a medical provider included oral health services provided by DHs from 2019 to 2023. Dental hygienists working in alternative practice models such as those demonstrated in the innovative WI-MDI approach are positioned to reduce oral health disparities through the provision of early and frequent dental prevention, intervention, and care coordination.
Author List
Linden JE, Gundacker CLU, Deinhammer L, Crespin MAuthor
Constance Gundacker MD Interim Chief, Assistant Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
ChildDental Care
Dental Hygienists
Female
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Oral Health
Pregnancy
Prenatal Care
Wisconsin
