Primary Care Professionals’ Feedback on Smiles for Life Curriculum

Abstract

To assess the value of Smiles for Life: A National Oral Health Curriculum (SFL) in influencing oral health practices of primary care professionals (PCPs).The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center’s Partnership for Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care (PIOHCPC) project is working with five project teams in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and Rhode Island that are integrating interprofessional oral health core clinical competencies into primary care practice. The competencies were developed to facilitate change in the clinical practice of PCPs working with vulnerable or underserved populations that lack or have limited access to oral health care.An initial PIOHCPC project requirement was for PCPs (physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurses) to complete at least two SFL courses based on their project population of focus (eg, pregnant women, children, adolescents). The curriculum consists of the following courses: Course 1: Relationship of Oral and Systemic Health; Course 2: Child Oral Health; Course 3: Adult Oral Health; Course 4: Acute Dental Problems; Course 5: Oral Health for Women: Pregnancy and Across the Lifespan; Course 6: Caries Risk Assessment, Fluoride Varnish, and Counseling; Course 7: The Oral Exam; and Course 8: Geriatric Oral Health. Three months after completion of the SFL courses, a 10‐question feedback form was sent to PCPs.PCPs working in primary care settings (community health centers, local health department, medical center women’s health clinic) serving pregnant women, children, and adolescents who completed at least two SFL courses as part of the PIOHCPC project.Thirteen PCPs (three physicians, three nurse practitioners, three nurse midwives, four nurses) completed the feedback form. One hundred percent of respondents strongly agreed/agreed that SFL courses (1) reinforced the importance of oral health to a patient’s overall health and well‐being, (2) increased their awareness of and familiarity with oral health issues in their patients, and (3) increased their confidence in integrating oral health care into primary care. Seventy‐seven percent of respondents strongly agreed/agreed that SFL courses helped reduce barriers to incorporating oral health care into primary care. Sixty‐two percent of respondents strongly agreed/agreed that integrating oral health care into primary care improved their patients’ oral health outcomes. The majority (ranging from 85 to 100 percent) of PCPs strongly agreed/agreed that SFL courses helped them integrate the interprofessional oral health core clinical competencies into primary care.Three months after completing SFL courses, PCPs indicated that the curriculum had a positive influence on oral health practices in the primary care setting. These findings are consistent with a 2017 study that examined SFL influence on clinical practice and found that the curriculum positively influenced oral health practices in the primary care setting. Additional feedback could be gathered 1 year post‐training to assess retention of PCPs’ practices related to integrating oral health care into primary care.Oral health training is essential for enhancing PCPs’ knowledge and practices related to integrating oral health care into primary care. To respond to the need to integrate oral health care into primary care, SFL should be considered as a training for PCPs.Health Resources and Services Administration.