Closing the Gap: Improving Access to Dental Care in Rhode Island 
This report highlights progress made in dental care access during the Rhode Island Oral Health Access Project and the work that remains to be done to increase access to dental care for children, the elderly, and other Rhode Islanders who lack access to dental services. The report was released by Rhode Island KIDS COUNTin collaboration with The Rhode Island Foundation and the Rhode Island Department of Human Services at the Rhode Island State House.

RI's Dental Program: RIte Smiles 
RIte Smiles, Rhode Island’s new dental program for children on Medical Assistance, will be enrolling more children into the new dental plan, UnitedHealthcare Dental-RIte Smiles. Enrollment in the RIte Smiles dental plan began on September 1, 2006. Download an information sheet, an update and Frequently Asked Questions about the program.

List of Dental Providers that Accept Medical Assistance in English and in Spanish 
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, the Department of Human Services, ACS, and EDS compiled this one-page list of dental providers  in English and in Spanish that accept Medical Assistance. Consumers are directed to use the DHS Information Line or DHS website to locate participating private dental providers. If the consumer is unable to locate a private provider or chooses to seek care at another type of site, contact information for the community health centers that offer dental services, dental centers located in hospitals, and the dental hygiene clinic located at the community college are also provided. See the listing here  in English and in Spanish. For more information on oral health, contact Jill Beckwith, Policy Analyst at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, at  (401) 351-9400 x 20.

Improving Oral Health Care for Young Children
An April 2007 report by the National Academy for State Health Policy discusses the impact of financing, workforce, and public health measures on the provision of oral health care in America. It offers promising models for improvement, including state examples, and options for policymakers seeking to improve access to oral health care for young children.

Innovative State Strategies For Improving The Oral Health Delivery System Released
The report, Catalyzing Improvements in Oral Health Care: Best Practices from the State Action for Oral Health Access Initiative, highlights the successes, challenges, and results of six states (Arizona, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont) that developed programs to reduce disparities and improve quality in oral health services.

CDC Preliminary Report: Trends in Oral Health Status: United States, 1988–1994 and 1999–2004
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released the preliminary report that shows an increase in tooth decay among two to five year old children.

What New CMS Guidance on DRA Means to Children’s Dental Care
June 2006 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency responsible for implementing the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), has released guidance on new Medicaid provisions. This brief provides details on recently released CMS guidance on these three issues to assist children's oral health advocates in working with their states.

Keeping Up with Medicaid Changes in States: A Guide for Child Oral Health Advocates
June 2006 - Recent changes made by Congress through the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) have shifted many Medicaid options that previously would only have been available as a waiver to be an option through a State Plan Amendment (SPA).

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) : What Does It Mean for Children’s Dentists? 
May 2006 - The DRA includes a number of changes in Medicaid that are designed to cut program spending by $7 billion over the next five years. While making these cuts, Congress also stated its intention to keep the pediatric EPSDT benefit intact. This is important to dentists because EPSDT contains Medicaid's comprehensive dental benefit for children from birth to age 21.

Federal Study Confirms Ongoing Disparities in Children’s Oral Health and Dental Care
May 2006 - "The Oral Health of Children" features state-by-state data and provides parents' perspectives, which complements other federal studies. The chartbook also allows comparison between parental subjective reports of dental visits and objective findings of the federal 1996 "MEPS" study.

Top 10 Questions to Ask State Leaders
May 2006 - The new Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) provides states with new opportunities to change the way they deliver dental care to low-income children in Medicaid. This fact sheet was developed to help you ask questions of policymakers about Medicaid and Coverage for Children’s Oral Health so that you can keep abreast of possible changes in your state.

CDF Report: Large Health Gaps Persist Between White and Minority Children
A 2006 report from the Children’s Defense Fund, Improving Children’s Health: Understanding Children’s Health Disparities and Promising Approaches to Address Them, identifies policies and practices that can advance children’s health by reducing health disparities in the areas of infant mortality and prenatal care, immunizations, lead poisoning, dental care, asthma and obesity.

A New HRSA Report Examines Children's Oral Health
The Oral Health of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2005, a new publication of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau, describes national and state level findings on the oral health of children ages birth to age 17 from The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH).

Program Brief: Child Health Research Findings
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)'s Program Brief summarizes findings from recent projects focused on children and adolescents. Reseach topics include adolescent health, asthma, mental health, newborns and infants, obesity/overweight, oral health and preventive services.

Oral Health Services for Children and Adolescents with Special Health Care Needs
The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) has produced two new resources -- a policy brief and an online learning tool -- to assist professionals working to improve oral health services for children and adolescents with special health care needs.

Bright Futures in Practice: Oral Health-Pocket Guide
A resource to assist health professionals in providing oral health care for infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant and postpartum women. The pocket guide offers health professionals an overview of preventive oral health supervision for five developmental periods-pregnancy and postpartum, infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. It is designed to be a useful tool for a wide array of health professionals including dentists, dental hygienists, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, dietitians, and others. The pocket guide is available from the Bright Futures Oral Health Toolbox.

Campaign to Prevent Early Childhood Tooth Decay
In an effort to combat the devastating disease of Early Childhood Tooth Decay, Delta Dental of Rhode Island - the state's leading dental insurer - and its partners unveiled a public awareness campaign in April 2003. The campaign includes newspaper and Internet ads, radio public service announcements and outdoor advertising, as well as consumer educational materials. The multi-faceted campaign focuses on the potential dangers of giving children bottles or sippy cups filled with sugary liquids at bedtime or naptime. To reach its long-term goal of eliminating Early Childhood Tooth Decay in Rhode Island, the campaign's primary outreach education sites will be neighborhood health centers, clinics and pediatric offices statewide.

• Read the press release.
• View the brochure Prevent Early Childhood Tooth Decay (English and Spanish).
• View the campaign poster in English.
• View the campaign poster in Spanish.
• Link to Delta Dental's website.

National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center - Oral health materials in foreign languages
At the bottom of the page, you can "search the collection." Enter "language" in the search box (omit quotation marks) and you will find anything in our collection in a foreign language. Otherwise, you can search Spanish, or Asian, or a specific language like Russian or Chinese.