Creating partnerships for improving oral health of low-income children.

A major health problem of children 5 years of age or younger from low-income families is dental caries in primary teeth, largely a preventable disease. Reports from the mid-1990s show a clear disparity in dental caries prevalence with Native American children experiencing dental caries to a much greater extent than any other population subgroups surveyed. In an effort to improve this outlook, a Heart Start Partners Oral Health Forum was convened in 1999 under the sponsorship of Head Start, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, and the Health Resources and Services Administration and Health Care Financing Administration's Oral Health Initiative. Head Start parents, teachers, and administrators; regional and state dental and Medicaid consultants; WIC state and local agency staff; and dental practitioners, scientists, researchers, and advocates met to review and discuss the latest research and evidence-based oral health practices. The specific objectives of the forum were: (1) to develop strategies to increase collaboration among federal state, and local agencies to improve oral health services for low-income children; (2) to obtain participants' feedback on the usefulness and appropriateness of the recommendations regarding nutrition, access to care, and disease management and prevention made at the conference; and (3) to determine the feasibility and cultural appropriateness of implementing recommendations and developing additional policies. Participants thought the information presented should be disseminated to families and health providers and efforts should be initiated to create partnerships that could implement changes in health care delivery and financing systems to increase oral health services to low-income families.