Modules
Module 1: Background

1.3 Principles of Programs Funded by Ohio Department of Health

Children in lunch lineODH provides grants to school-based dental sealant programs that enable them to provide sealants to students (with parental consent) at no charge to parents in participating schools. (See module 5 for details on the quality-assurance aspects of the program.) Key elements of ODH’s approach are to make sure that programs1

  • Use a community-based approach to dental caries prevention
  • Target children at higher risk for dental cariesb
  • Operate efficiently
  • Ensure quality
  • Maximize the use of public funding

Using a Community-Based Approach

ODH’s school-based dental sealant program is a community-based public health approach to preventing dental caries. The program was developed based on Ohio caries data and requires those who operate sealant programs to work with the community (e.g., schools, private dental offices, safety net clinics). Although program goals are accomplished one child at a time, ODH focuses on the health of the population and on reducing disparities.

Targeting Children at Higher Risk for Dental Caries

Programs provide sealants primarily to the most decay-prone teeth and tooth surfaces (i.e., the pits and fissures of permanent molar teeth) of children at higher risk for dental caries. For the purpose of ODH-funded sealant programs, children at higher risk are those who are eligible for FRPM or Medicaid or who do not have dental insurance and did not have a dental visit in the past year. Because of schools’ unwillingness to make the program available to children based on income criteria, the program operates in schools in which a certain percentage of students participate in FRPM. As a result, three out of four children who receive sealants in Ohio sealant programs are at higher risk for dental caries, based on income criteria.

b In this curriculum, “children and adolescents at higher risk for dental caries” refers to children and adolescents from families with low incomes, who are at higher risk for dental caries than their counterparts from higher-income families.