Grant Allen, MD, FAAP, is working in concert with the Chapter Oral Health Liaison to the Alabama Academy of Pediatric Dentistry to continue promotion of this project.
Chapter Activities After a year of collaboration and planning, the Chapter, together with the Alabama Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), successfully worked with the Alabama Medicaid Agency to add coverage of oral health risk assessment and fluoride varnishing in the pediatric medical home for children from 6 months to 3 years of age.
Effective January 2009, Medicaid began reimbursing primary care providers who have been trained in oral health risk assessment for dental codes D0145 (oral exam less than 3 years old, counseling) and D1206 (topical fluoride application) under certain limitations.
Working in tandem with Medicaid's Oral Health Coalition, the goals of this program, called "1st Look" are to improve awareness of early childhood caries, increase early prevention education, enlarge the dental referral provider base, and reduce the incidence of dental caries.
Pediatric providers, along with clinical staff in their offices who will be applying the varnishes and performing risk assessments, must complete the AAP Oral Health Risk Assessment Training Program for Pediatricians and Other Child Health Professionals and pass the post-test. The training includes oral health risk assessment, education on performing anticipatory guidance and counseling, demonstration of fluoride varnish application, and information on recommendations for a dental home.
The Chapter is also working with the AAPD to provide training opportunities, both at state Chapter meetings and at the local level. More than 30 dentists have been trained at "train-the-trainer" sessions, and more than 75 pediatricians have been trained.
The Chapter also continues to serve as an active member of the Alabama Medicaid Agency's Oral Health Coalition.
This section will feature Alabama news related to oral health. If you would like to submit an oral health article to be posted on this Web page, please
e-mail the link and why you think it should be included to oralhealthinfo@aap.org.
Please, no product endorsements, articles that promote individual dental practices, or information that relates to time-sensitive announcements, such as free screening fairs.
