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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Oral health

Drilling Down on Dental Coverage and Costs for Medicare Beneficiaries
Examines the oral health of Medicare beneficiaries. Addresses the costs of not obtaining dental care, use of dental services, current sources of dental coverage, and out-of-pocket spending. Includes rural/urban breakdowns.
Date: 03/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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2017 Vermont Dentists by Rational Service Areas: Population per FTE
County level map of dentists by population service area in the state of Vermont.
Date: 02/2019
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Vermont Department of Health
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Case Studies of 6 Safety Net Organizations That Integrate Oral and Mental/Behavioral Health With Primary Care Services
Features an analysis of 6 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) integrating oral health and behavioral health with primary care across the country. Features one rural example.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): M. Langelier, S. Surdu, N. Goodwin
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Oral Health Workforce Research Center
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Delivery of Preventive Oral Health Services by Rurality: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
Examines the integration of oral health and primary care as a method of increasing access to preventive oral health services for children under age 6 using 2012-2014 Medicaid claims data from 39 states. Includes patient characteristics, such as age, sex, and poverty level, as well as healthcare utilization rates, with breakdowns by metro and nonmetro counties.
Author(s): Caroline K. Geiger, Ashley M. Kranz, Andrew W. Dick, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 35(1), 3-11
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
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Narrowing the Rural Oral Healthcare Gap: The 2017 Rural Interprofessional Oral Health Practice Symposium
Discusses a 2017 symposium on interprofessional oral health practice in rural communities. Details the current state of interprofessional practice, as well as goals for the future. Discusses the results of a number of survey questions given to the symposium participants.
Author(s): Sean G. Boynes, Ce Ce Heyward, Christine Kenney, et al.
Citation: BMC Oral Health, 18(Supplement 1), 212
Date: 12/2018
Type: Document
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Improving Oral Health Care Services in Rural America
Discusses the link between oral health and overall health and issues affecting oral health access in rural areas, including shortages of dental providers, differences in dental hygienist scope of practice by state, and insurance coverage. Provides an overview of federal efforts related to rural oral health and offers policy recommendations. Includes a summary of local perspectives from a site visit to Winnsboro Smiles Family Dentistry in rural South Carolina as part of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services meeting.
Date: 12/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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For California's Rural Seniors, Improving Oral Health Care Could Mean Better Health
Highlights data on California's oral health needs for rural seniors, how those needs can impact other health conditions, and offers recommendations for policymakers.
Date: 12/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Families USA
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America's Health Rankings Annual Report 2018
Provides a national and state-by-state overview of population health by analyzing 35 measures to describe health outcomes in the U.S. Provides rural specific information and statistics by residence, obesity, excessive alcohol use, physical inactivity, smoking, diabetes, health status, mental and physical distress.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 12/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: United Health Foundation
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2018 Montana Oral Health Workforce Assessment
Provides an overview of the oral health workforce in Montana. Includes information on the scope of practice, education and continuing education, and distribution within the state for dentists, dental hygienists, dental auxiliaries, and denturists. Covers county-level data on dental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) by type. Discusses initiatives to expand dental education in Montana to meet the needs in rural areas.
Date: 09/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services Meeting Minutes, Charlotte, North Carolina, September 10-12, 2018
Summarizes the 84th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (NACRHHS), which was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, and focused on rural Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and oral healthcare access. Offers perspectives from a national level and from North and South Carolina, including the work of the Duke Endowment, and summarizes potential policy recommendations.
Date: 09/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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