Dental hygienists key to pilot program in Ind.

A pilot program using dental hygienists to help prevent caries in children from low-income families will be developed and tested in areas of northwestern Indiana that are most in need of dental services.

Funded with a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the program is being led by Angeles Martinez-Mier, DDS, MSD, PhD, an associate professor and director of the Indiana University (IU) School of Dentistry's Division of Community Dentistry, and James Miller, DDS, MSD, PhD, the Indiana State Department of Health's oral health director.

The program will focus on children living in federally designated dental health professional shortage areas, according to the university. If the program proves successful, it will serve as a model for expanding dental services to children in other dental shortage areas in the state.

The program marks the first use of a modification made two years ago to Indiana law governing the scope of practice for dental hygienists that allows dentists to provide offsite supervision of dental hygienists. In the past, hygienists could apply sealants only if a dentist was present.

The program will be developed and tested in partnership with school corporations designated Title 1 (lowest income) schools in Northwest Indiana and two community health centers, IU Health La Porte Community Health and Dental Clinics and HealthLinc Community Health Centers in Valparaiso and Michigan City. Three rolling sites within a school system or systems have yet to be selected. A dentist, two hygienists, and two assistants will be assigned to each site.

Children who participate in the program will be tracked for two years. The program will assess the total number of children seen by the program, the number of children with cavities, the average cost per child, the average cost per sealant, and other factors.