Oral Health

Oral health means much more than healthy teeth. It means being free of chronic pain, cancers, lesions, birth defects (such as cleft lip and palate), and scores of other diseases and disorders that affect the oral, dental, and craniofacial tissues. Also, oral health is essential to general health. You cannot be healthy without good oral health. Oral health requires education, daily oral hygiene (which includes brushing and flossing), and good nutrition. Access to oral health care services, dentists or dental hygienists, remains a major issue, especially for Medicaid recipients and low-income persons across the state. Fluoride is the most effective source available to prevent tooth decay and community water fluoridation is an effective and efficient way to help the residents of any community, improve their oral health.

Creating a Healthier Missouri: A Statewide Oral Health Plan 2009 The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is excited to present “Creating a Healthier Missouri: A Statewide Oral Health Plan 2009.” The impact of oral health on overall health has been recognized in the health care environment yet many still suffer from oral disease. DHSS invites you to use this plan to address oral health in your community.

Adult Oral Health Assessment Executive Summary 2009 In 2009, a statewide assessment was conducted to examine the oral health of specific adult populations throughout Missouri. This Executive Summary provides the results from the assessment.

K-12 Oral Health Education Curriculum (Powerpoint Presentations)
The Department of Health and Senior Services is pleased to be able to offer these oral health education powerpoint presentations designed specifically for Kindergarten-High School Seniors. These presentations can be downloaded free-of-charge by clicking on the grade(s) specific icons.  These presentations can be used by school health nurses or teachers, as well as by other health care/child care professionals, in conjunction with their health curriculum.

Missouri Oral Health Preventive Services Program (PSP)
For more information regarding the Missouri Oral Health Preventive Services Program (PSP), please go to http://www.mohealthysmiles.com.

What’s New
CHIR is an interactive web-based system designed to assist public health practitioners and community stakeholders with improving the health of their communities.  The system uses an evidence-based public health improvement planning process that includes information and tools to help identify and prioritize community health issues, develop partnerships to address prioritized health issues, create and evaluate community plans to impact the identified issues utilizing evidence-based interventions, and sustain community efforts to impact priority health issues. CHIR utilizes the following Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services MICA (Missouri Information for Community Assessment) tools:
1. Community Profiles (state, regional, county and city data profiles)
2. Data MICA (state and local data query system)
3. Priorities MICA (interactive priority-setting tool)
4. Intervention MICA (information, tools and resources for intervention design, implementation, and evaluation)
Intervention MICA provides information on how to identify and develop evidence-based interventions to address priority health concerns, including oral health.