Oral Health Advisory Board focuses on dental high-risk priority schools

Esther Yepez and her friend Billy show little ones how to brush their teeth.

Oral health leaders from the healthcare industry, nonprofits, academia, and the government met online at The L.A. Trust’s Oral Health Advisory Board quarterly meeting on June 7. Representatives from about 20 organizations discussed ways to help students in dental high-risk priority schools to access oral health services, how to improve screening assessments, and developed a roadmap for future meetings.

Dr. Smita Malhotra, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Medical Director provided an update from the new Superintendent for LAUSD, Alberto M. Carvalho, who has identified 68 priority schools as dental high-risk schools. LAUSD aims to bring mobile dental services to all the priority schools in the upcoming school year. They hope to provide toothbrushes and other resources in these schools and to boost The Kindergarten Oral Health Assessment (KOHA) participation in communities where dental care resources are lacking or what health officials call “dental desert communities.” 

Assessments and screenings

Casey Balverde, Data and Research Analyst with The L.A. Trust, gave a brief overview of the KOHA Survey Project, an online survey conducted in 28 districts to see how each district is distributing, collecting, and reporting KOHA data. The L.A. Trust is finalizing a full report in collaboration with the L.A. County Health Department detailing best practices, challenges and recommendations that should be ready later this month.

Elizabeth Brummel, Oral Health Community Liaison at the UCLA School of Dentistry, gave a brief update on the findings of their own Oral Health Collaborative Consortium of five elementary schools in South L.A. She outlined what UCLA Dentistry is doing to advance school-based oral health, including updates on their assessment, education, and outreach programs.

Esther Yepez from The L.A. Trust provided updates on the Big Smiles screenings small pilot project at the nine schools in the Local South District which provided oral health education to 781 students. The pilot project was able to screen 162 students and is aiming next year to increase the impact on children with more education and screenings.

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health, added that there was likely growth in dental emergencies due to the pandemic. In the last 10 years, the average has been 4-6% and now it is at 9%. The dramatic increase in cavities, or “covidties” as Dr. Francisco Ramos called them, can be seen as a result of the pandemic with the closure of dental clinics, social distancing, staying indoors, and fear of visiting unfamiliar places.

Moving forward

The L.A. Trust’s Oral Health Advisory Board ended with a focus on next convening’s agenda. The agenda includes reporting findings and recommendations on referral systems for the city, the county and the state. The Board seeks to align LAUSD priority schools with the LA County priority schools to make sure those students get first access to dental screenings and referrals to dental homes. The Board also aims to ensure that water fountains at the 68 priority schools are properly fluoridated to supplement ongoing oral health initiatives.