8/7/2019 ADA Symposium Presentation

1/1

Raising the Momentum through Continuity of Care:Finding Dental Homes for Americas Children

July 22-23, 2010American Dental Association Headquarters

Presentation Title:

Dental Health Solutions for Children: Creating and sustaining adental safety net for school-aged children.

Presentation Summary:Thanks to the Dental Solutions for Children Program, Salem-KeizerSchool Districts 40,000 students never miss class due to dental pain!

Learn about the Dental Health Solutions for Children Program and howto develop and maintain a dental health safety-net for children in yourcommunity. The Dental Solutions for Children Program was createdand launched ten years ago in the Salem-Keizer (Oregon) community

to protect children from experiencing the painful effects of dentaldisease. Embedded in the school district, this Program provides:

Dental health education for students and parents,

School-based dental screenings and prevention services, and

Access to treatment for low-income, uninsured students.

Coordination is essential to program sustainability. Programcoordination involves developing and building a network ofparticipating dentists and agencies, managing the referral process,promoting program awareness and visibility, collecting program data,and resource development.

Brief Speaker Biographies:Jessica Minahan, BS Biology. A co-founder of the Dental Solutions forChildren Program, Jessica has been the Dental Health Coordinator forthe Salem-Keizer School District for over five years. She maintains alarge and active network of dental care providers and programparticipants, chairs the steering committee, schedules community andschool-based dental education, dental disease prevention and access-to-care programs, tracks treatment referrals, and raises funds throughdonations, grants and Program publicity.

Catherine Pederson, BA Sociology. A co-founder of Dental Solutionsfor Children and a former registered nurse, Catherine has been acommunity volunteer and activist for needs of the elderly and childrenfor 30 years. She worked as a Protective Services Case Manager forpersons 65 and older while assisting her husband in the managementof his oral surgery practice. With Stand for Children founder JonahEdelman, she researched dental access disparities and through focusgroups and face-to-face conversations with area dentists formed theNeighborhood Dentist network in 1998. Catherine continues to serveon the Dental Solutions for Children steering committee.