American Academy of Pediatrics
PO Box 776437
Chicago, IL
United States
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), specifically the Oral Health Section of the AAP, has been a national partner of CareQuest Institute that is working to bring the pediatrician community together to foster buy-in and support for integrating oral health into primary care. Some of the AAP’s historic work has focused on the elevation of the Campaign for Dental Health as a national leading voice in efforts around community water fluoridation. One notable milestone because of CareQuest Institute’s partnership with the AAP has been the development and spread of a model oral health risk assessment tool. With support from CareQuest Institute, the AAP successfully standardized a digital version of the assessment tool through the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources process to strategically integrate capabilities into electronic health records.
In 2022, CareQuest Institute provided a grant to AAP to focus on the application of Silver Diamine Fluoride in the pediatric practice setting. This grant funded a survey of selected AAP committees/councils/sections and followed up with key informant interviews with 12 survey participants. The outcome, a report entitled Knowledge and Attitudes about Silver Diamine Fluoride in Pediatric Practice, revealed that fewer than 5% of respondents/ participants are currently applying SDF in their practices. To increase knowledge of SDF use in the primary care medical home, the AAP convened an expert interprofessional work group to create a draft implementation guide and 2-page brief which, upon AAP executive approval, can be disseminated to AAP members and other stakeholders. Finally, professionally facilitated workshops brought together the major organizations responsible for seeing, referring, and treating children's dental health needs.
In 2023, AAP piloted a resource it developed, an adaptation of the silver diamine fluoride (SDF) dental guideline to a tool for use by pediatricians in pediatric setting, in four pediatric medical practices. Participating sites reported several challenges in the first year of the pilot. AAP would like to extend their support of these sites to reengage dental trainers for additional hand-no training and guidance, develop new practice management tools, and create educational and promotional materials to share with families and the public about SDF. Extending the pilot will enable continued collection of data from families for the consumer perspective on SDF. Practices will submit qualitative and quantitative information on each patient encounter in which SDF was recommended, and a monthly summary.
To educate pediatric practitioners at the national level, AAP requests funds to develop and deliver a caries management education program for attendees of several national conferences which will include a live training on SDF application.
Finally, AAP will continue to convene medical, dental, health equity, and other stakeholders to build networks focused on medica-dental integration, collaboration, and referral.
AAP is requesting $175,000 for this work which is less than 1% of the organization’s overall budget. Funds will be used to support staff time, a consultant, participation at conferences, pilot site support, translation services, and indirect costs.