Improving Oral Health Care

Why we care…

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Access to oral health care for the region’s low-income, underserved populations has been a recurring theme of community health assessments as far back as 1994, when the Red Logan Dental Clinic was established in response to the recognition that the Upper Valley oral health safety net was inadequate (particularly for adults.)

Between 2003 and 2015, stakeholders and community members identified poor oral health as a leading regional need. Data provided by the APD Upper Valley Smiles school dental program for 2012-13 underscores the health disparity experienced by low-income children who lack a dental home: 29% of the screened children were found to have untreated decay. The statewide average across all NH schools is 12%.  Uninsured adults with severe dental pain and/or infection arrive at hospital emergency departments, only to be prescribed antibiotics and/or pain medications, usually narcotics, and told to “go find a dentist to take care of your mouth.”  The Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital emergency room sees three to five adults per week who are in this no-win situation, many of whom simply come back weeks later when the medications are gone and the problem has returned. The Red Logan Dental Clinic has a waiting list and does not handle emergencies.

Many Upper Valley adults have no access to dental plans to pay for routine care and provide some benefit for restorative care, which is creating our own version of the “silent epidemic,” compounded by the growing numbers of opiate-addicted individuals whose requests for narcotics due to dental pain create an additional burden on emergency room and primary care providers.

Public Health Council Goals for Improving Oral Health Care

  1. Reduce the number of children with untreated oral health needs.
  2.  Reduce the number of adults with crisis oral health needs.

Key Partners Working on these Goals

Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital

Upper Valley SMILES, a program of Community Health at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, is a school-based oral health program for children enrolled in the Lebanon, Enfield, Canaan, Hartford, and Hartland elementary schools and the Richards School in Newport.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Community Health

The mission of Community Health Improvement & Benefits (CHIB) is to promote health, prevent illness, and remove barriers that hinder access to health care by working hand-in-hand with the communities we serve.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Pediatrics is contributing to our resources for increasing oral health care by providing training in and promoting the practice of applying fluoride varnish as part of well visit care in its Lebanon clinic.

Ottauquechee Health Foundation

The Foundation makes grants on behalf of individuals who are unable to pay for their costs of healthcare. Two thirds of these grants are for dental care each year, due to the oral health crisis in the Upper Valley and across the country. The remainder of the grants fund medical equipment, mental health, pharmaceutical and other health needs.

Red Logan Dental Clinic

The Red Logan Dental Clinic is part of the Good Neighbor Health Clinics, Inc. a non-profit free health care facility established in 1992 for the purpose of offering free primary medical and dental care to the people of the Upper Connecticut River Valley who are in need and lack the resources to obtain adequate care.

Other Resources

New Hampshire Oral Health Coalition

Vermont Oral Health Care for All Coalition