School and Adolescent Oral Health Committee

ASTDD's School and Adolescent Oral Health (SAOH) Committee's mission is to promote the importance of good oral health practices that improve the oral health of school-age children and adolescents through education, networking, and collaborative partnerships at local, state and national levels. The committee serves as a resource to state oral health programs and others and works to ensure a strong oral health component in all school and adolescent health initiatives.

Committee Members

SAOH Committee Logic Model

SAOH Committee Work Plan

School and Adolescent Oral Health Programs

SAOH's programs promote, protect, and assure the oral health and well-being of school-aged children and adolescents. Through these programs, children and adolescents are encouraged to accept self-responsibility for their oral health, develop life-long healthy behaviors, and receive education, preventive care, treatment and other services.

School and adolescent oral health programs strive to:

(1) Assess the oral health needs of school-age children and adolescents;

(2) Develop policies to improve the oral health of children and adolescents and their famlies;

(3) Assure that children and adolescents are getting needed prevention and treatment services.

1. ASTDD White Papers

Integrating Oral Health Education into Health Education Curricula in Schools (August 2013)
Nutrition Education and Healthy Eating in School Settings (March 2015)
Integrating Oral Health into the Whole School Whole Community Whole Child School Health Model (Sept 2015)
School Dental Sealant Programs (November 2017)

2. ASTDD Best Practice Approach Reports

ASTDD Best Practices Approach Report: Improving Children's Oral Health through the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model (March 2017)
ASTDD's Best Practices Approach Report: School-Based Dental Sealant Programs (updated November 2017)

ASTDD supports the integration of oral health into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model and has prepared the following resources:

3. Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Oral Health Toolkit

This toolkit contains resources to assist in integrating oral health into the WSCC model. The toolkit is useful for oral health programs, school nurses and other health professionals, teachers and school administrators, community health workers, parents and others who are interested in promoting oral health in the school-setting following a model that addresses the whole child and whose goal is to improve learning and health among school-age children. We value your input and appreciate your feedback on the WSCC Toolkit. Please send comments to cwood@astdd.org.

WSCC Oral Health Fact Sheet
WSCC Introductory PowerPoint
WSCC PowerPoint Notes
Capacity Building Tool: Recommendations for Integrating Oral Health into the WSCC Model
Best Practice Report: Improving Children's Oral Health through the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model (March 2017)
ASTDD Basic Screening Survey Tool

4. Other WSCC Resources

WSCC Overview (CDC)
WSCC Fact Sheet (CDC)
WSCC Oral Health Integration and Recommendations
Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child: Expanding the Evidence Base: The CDC, ASCD, and numerous partners have published ten articles in the November 2015 special supplement of the Journal of School Health, the journal of the American School Health Association. The articles are free to download.

Submit a short 2-page summary of your successful school-based program that uses the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model to be posted and shared online. Submission Form

5. Webinars

School and Adolescent Oral Health Committee Webinar: The ABCs of Oral Health for the National Association of School Nurses. (October 2014)
Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child = Better Oral Health Webinar
This webinar hosted by Smiles Across America reviews the components of ASTDD's e-toolkit and provides recommendations for incorporating dental health into the CDC's Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) school health model. (September 2015)
Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child = Better Oral Health
Members of the ASTDD School and Adolescent Oral Health Committee presented this Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child = Better Oral Health webcast. Schools play a critical role in promoting the health and safety of children between 5 and 17 years of age, helping them to establish lifelong behaviors that promote health and wellness. Schools may also play a role in promoting the integration of oral health with general health and well-being. Research demonstrates a link between general health and dental health outcomes and academic success. For more than 10 years, ASTDD's School and Adolescent Oral Health Committee has promoted the integration of oral health into a comprehensive model of school health. This webinar targeting dental directors, sealant program coordinators and stakeholders, reviewed the components of an e-toolkit and provided recommendations for incorporating dental health into the CDC's Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) school health model. In addition to the recording, the PowerPoint slides are available for individuals who were not able to participate in the webcast. (February 2016)
Success Stories from School Sealant Programs - Healthy People 2020 objective OH 12-2 is to "Increase the portion of children aged 6-9 years who have received dental sealants on one or more of their permanent first molar teeth." Building a successful school-based dental sealant program is a means of meeting this objective. In this webcast, three presenters from various school-based sealant programs, present information about an important school-based dental sealant program component and share a story around building a successful sealant program. Resources, such as the ASTDD School-based Dental Sealant Best Practice Approach Report and the 2017 Children's Dental Health Project, Sealant Work Group Recommendations as well as other state manuals and reports, will be shared for future use in building a successful program. (November 2017)
Introduction and Resources PowerPoint
Terri Chandler PowerPoint
Stephanie Chickering PowerPoint
Matt Crespin PowerPoint
Infographic Example – Nevada Hospital Emergency Room usage
Infographic Example – Future Smiles Statewide Summary Report
Infographic Example – Martinez Elementary School Report

6. School Oral Health Program Resources

The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) responds to the needs of professionals working in states and communities, with the goal of improving oral health services for pregnant women, infants, children, and adolescents, including those with special health care needs, and their families (the maternal and child health (MCH) population). OHRC serves the MCH population by supporting health professionals, program administrators, educators, and others working in or with MCH programs.
Oregon's Oral Health Toolkit for School Based Health Centers (SBHCs) This toolkit provides Oregon SBHCs with various kinds of resources aimed at: connecting clients with existing oral health services in their area, integrating oral health services into their SBHCs and schools as well as different types of publications around childhood/young adulthood oral health and oral health services in school settings. It was developed by the Oregon Oral Health Coalition's K-12 Committee, which is committed to increasing in-school access to oral health services, advance education outcomes, increase school attendance and improve the overall health and wellness for Oregon's K-12 population.
School Oral Health Resource Library. This library from the School-based Health Alliance serves as an access point to resources from reputable oral health organizations and programs. The platform simplifies and streamlines the search and identification of relevant resources for all who are engaged in school oral health at the national, state, and local levels. (January 2018)
State Dental Screenig Laws for Children: Examing the Trend and Impact (January 2019)
Survey of School-Based Oral Health Programs Operated by Health Centers - This report from the National Network for Oral Health Access, presents the results of a national online survey of Health Centers that National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) conducted in June 2013 to obtain information about school-based oral health programs located in school-based health centers (SBHCs) and operated by Health Centers. Survey respondents were dental directors from Health Centers that currently have school-based oral health programs. Sixty-two Health Centers from 29 states that provided school-based oral health programs completed the survey. The paper also presents results from two follow-up focus groups held in August 2013 with dental directors or school-based program managers from 10 Health Centers with large school-based oral health programs. (July 2014)
The Utah Department of Health Oral Health Program (OHP) launched an Adolescent Oral Health Campaign to educate middle school and high school age students about oral health care with the goal of increasing positive oral health behaviors and increasing the participation and utilization of dental services. (2016-17)

7. Websites

CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) Adolescent and School Health
CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health School Health Profiles
CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center
National School- Based Health Alliance
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids