Oral Health in Rural Communities – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Oral Health in Rural Communities.
Examining Oral Health Care Utilization and Expenditures for Low-Income Adults
Explores oral health utilization and Medicaid expenditures across the nation. Presents a state-by-state map of Medicaid coverage for adult dental services. Breaks down data by age, race, and rural-urban areas, among other factors.
Author(s): Stacey Chazin, June Glover
Date: 11/2017
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Explores oral health utilization and Medicaid expenditures across the nation. Presents a state-by-state map of Medicaid coverage for adult dental services. Breaks down data by age, race, and rural-urban areas, among other factors.
Author(s): Stacey Chazin, June Glover
Date: 11/2017
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Rural Veterans' Dental Utilization, BRFSS, 2014
Highlight study on the dental utilization rates for rural veterans. Explores whether the rural veterans are more likely to experience negative oral health outcomes, such as missing teeth. Breaks down data by age, race, educational attainment, and rural versus urban location, among other factors.
Author(s): R. Constance Wiener, Chan Shen, Usha Sambamoorthi, Patricia A. Findley
Citation: Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 77(4), 383-392
Date: 09/2017
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Highlight study on the dental utilization rates for rural veterans. Explores whether the rural veterans are more likely to experience negative oral health outcomes, such as missing teeth. Breaks down data by age, race, educational attainment, and rural versus urban location, among other factors.
Author(s): R. Constance Wiener, Chan Shen, Usha Sambamoorthi, Patricia A. Findley
Citation: Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 77(4), 383-392
Date: 09/2017
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Trends in the Development of the Dental Service Organization Model: Implications for the Oral Health Workforce and Access to Services
Results of a 2017 survey of dental service organizations, which often build new practices in underserved and rural areas, and case studies of 6 dental support organizations providing general or specialty dentistry in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Florida, and Massachusetts.
Author(s): Margaret Langelier, Shen Wang, Simona Surdu, Elizabeth Mertz, Cynthia Wides
Date: 08/2017
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Health Workforce Studies, Oral Health Workforce Research Center
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Results of a 2017 survey of dental service organizations, which often build new practices in underserved and rural areas, and case studies of 6 dental support organizations providing general or specialty dentistry in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Florida, and Massachusetts.
Author(s): Margaret Langelier, Shen Wang, Simona Surdu, Elizabeth Mertz, Cynthia Wides
Date: 08/2017
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Health Workforce Studies, Oral Health Workforce Research Center
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An Assessment of Mobile and Portable Dentistry Programs to Improve Population Oral Health
Describes configurations of portable and mobile dental programs including models and applications, discusses targeted populations, details variations in regulations by state, and examines outcomes of preventive interventions in rural areas. Includes case studies of 7 programs initiated to improve access in rural areas.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): Margaret Langelier, Jean Moore, Rachel Carter, et al.
Date: 08/2017
Sponsoring organization: Oral Health Workforce Research Center
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Describes configurations of portable and mobile dental programs including models and applications, discusses targeted populations, details variations in regulations by state, and examines outcomes of preventive interventions in rural areas. Includes case studies of 7 programs initiated to improve access in rural areas.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): Margaret Langelier, Jean Moore, Rachel Carter, et al.
Date: 08/2017
Sponsoring organization: Oral Health Workforce Research Center
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A Workforce Strategy for Reducing Oral Health Disparities: Dental Therapists
Presents a history of dental therapy as a workforce strategy, from development to implementation. Examines the states and tribal nations that have implemented dental therapists as a means to improve oral healthcare access.
Author(s): Jane Koppelman, Rebecca Singer-Cohen
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 107(Suppl 1), S13-S17
Date: 06/2017
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Presents a history of dental therapy as a workforce strategy, from development to implementation. Examines the states and tribal nations that have implemented dental therapists as a means to improve oral healthcare access.
Author(s): Jane Koppelman, Rebecca Singer-Cohen
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 107(Suppl 1), S13-S17
Date: 06/2017
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MORE Care: Narrowing the Rural Interprofessional Oral Health Care Gap
Presents an integrated healthcare model that connects oral health to primary care Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). Discusses challenges and strategies in implementing oral health interprofessional practice (IPP), such as developing dental referral networks and ensuring access to health information technology, among others. Details the collaboration between the State Offices of Rural Health in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Colorado with the DentaQuest Institute and the Medical University of South Carolina.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Sean G. Boynes, Lisa Davis, Graham Adams, Michelle Mills, Mark Deutchman
Date: 05/2017
Sponsoring organization: DentaQuest Institute
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Presents an integrated healthcare model that connects oral health to primary care Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). Discusses challenges and strategies in implementing oral health interprofessional practice (IPP), such as developing dental referral networks and ensuring access to health information technology, among others. Details the collaboration between the State Offices of Rural Health in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Colorado with the DentaQuest Institute and the Medical University of South Carolina.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Sean G. Boynes, Lisa Davis, Graham Adams, Michelle Mills, Mark Deutchman
Date: 05/2017
Sponsoring organization: DentaQuest Institute
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Community Health Workers Get Trained to Reduce Oral Health Disparities
Highlights programs serving the Navajo Nation, Texas colonias, and Appalachian Maryland that use community health workers to provide oral health education and improve access dental care.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2017
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Highlights programs serving the Navajo Nation, Texas colonias, and Appalachian Maryland that use community health workers to provide oral health education and improve access dental care.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2017
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Dental Therapy Toolkit: A Resource for Potential Employers
Toolkit designed to provide prospective employers of dental therapists a history and understanding of the field and offer information on how to integrate dental therapists into their practices in the state of Minnesota. Includes regulations and scope of practice details, education and training requirements, and examples of successful dental therapy models, among other topics.
Date: 02/2017
Sponsoring organizations: Health Reform Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, Minnesota Department of Human Services
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Toolkit designed to provide prospective employers of dental therapists a history and understanding of the field and offer information on how to integrate dental therapists into their practices in the state of Minnesota. Includes regulations and scope of practice details, education and training requirements, and examples of successful dental therapy models, among other topics.
Date: 02/2017
Sponsoring organizations: Health Reform Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, Minnesota Department of Human Services
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Neglected for Too Long: Dental Care for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Policy brief describing scarcity of dental care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, due to a shortage of properly trained dental care providers and exceptionally long distances many patients must travel to receive adequate care.
Date: 2017
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Disability
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Policy brief describing scarcity of dental care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, due to a shortage of properly trained dental care providers and exceptionally long distances many patients must travel to receive adequate care.
Date: 2017
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Disability
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A Comparison of Medicaid Dental Claims Data in 2 States with Different Adult Dental Benefits, 2012-2013
Compares enrollment and utilization of adult Medicaid dental benefits in Oklahoma and New York from 2012-2013. Analyzes for age, race, and gender, as well as for rural, urban, and mixed urban-rural areas.
Author(s): Simona Surdu, Margaret Langelier, Jean Moore
Date: 12/2016
Sponsoring organization: Oral Health Workforce Research Center
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Compares enrollment and utilization of adult Medicaid dental benefits in Oklahoma and New York from 2012-2013. Analyzes for age, race, and gender, as well as for rural, urban, and mixed urban-rural areas.
Author(s): Simona Surdu, Margaret Langelier, Jean Moore
Date: 12/2016
Sponsoring organization: Oral Health Workforce Research Center
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Last Updated: 3/31/2025