Author: mohcweb

New!! Updated data brief from the Partnership for Children’s Oral Health:

Dental Care among Children with MaineCare and Commercial Dental Benefits
2019 Update and 2016-2019 Trends In Dental Services

Highlights:

• Almost half of Maine children and youth under age 21 had either no dental coverage or had coverage for only part of the year.
• About 3 out of 10 children with year-long commercial dental benefits, and 4 out of 10 children with year-long MaineCare, had no claims for preventive dental care in 2019.
• Preventive dental care among Maine children with dental benefits peaks in elementary school aged children and declines through adolescence.
• The disparity in preventive dental care rates between publicly-insured and privately-insured children increases with age and varies widely across Maine’s counties.

https://www.mainecohn.org/assets/docs/databrief.pdf?p=publications/databrief.pdf

The Maine Oral Health Program is pleased to share its new handbook for school oral health programs.

The intent of the manual is to assist school administrators, dentists, dental hygienists, nurses, and volunteers in implementing the Program. This handbook addresses questions and concerns stakeholders have presented to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services during its administration of the Program.

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/population-health/odh/documents/2021SOHP_Handbook.pdf

In September of 2020, the Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services (MBVS) released its needs assessment, Oral Health Access for Maine’s Veterans. Since then, MBVS has been working on several action steps to help address the report’s numerous recommendations.

Here are February 2021 updates on two of those steps: The first was to create an online dental care resource on the Bureau’s website as a clearing house of information for veterans and advocates. The second was to partner with Northeast Delta Dental to form a Maine Veterans’ Dental Network in 2021 to assist veterans who may not be able to afford necessary dental services. Modeled on a network in New Hampshire that’s been in place since 2018, the Maine network is looking for oral health professionals interested in joining in creating this resource.

To find out more, contact Dr. Mitch Couret at Northeast Delta Dental (603-496-1015 or email mcouret@nedelta.com). For now, MBVS Director of Strategic Partnerships, Sarah Sherman, will serve as the program’s point of contact and to help coordinate veterans’ transportation when needed (207-430-5816 or email sarah.sherman@maine.gov). To review the Bureau’s online dental care information or needs assessment report go here.  https://www.maine.gov/veterans/benefits/healthcare/dental_access_and_information.html