NOTE: OODH Archived Programs pages are from previous grant cycles (from 2021 and earlier). The information on these pages is no longer updated and may be out-of-date, but are included here as a resource to the community. 
Documents on our archived pages do not meet current accessibility standards and are not compatible with screen readers.

Active OODH program 2016-2021 

Oral health has been, and continues to be, is an important health issue for the approximately 6.5 million people in the US with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) who are not able to access the dental care they need.  

Despite some progress over the years, a significant disparity still exists in oral healthcare between I/DD and the general population. Barriers generated by finances, a lack of appropriately trained dental providers (less than 10% of all dentists treat patients with disabilities), limited accessibility of dental clinics, lack of Medicare and Medicaid funding and the patients themselves combine to create significant challenges to providing dental care. (This last part of the statement is not intended to blame the individual, but rather stress the inaccessibility of the system as a whole).  However, there are programs and strategies that can help to decrease the magnitude of these obstacles and help minimize this health disparity. Read this article by Michael Milano, DMD for more information.

The Oregon Office on Disability and Health and the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities along with our many partners are committed to increasing the awareness of, and efforts around, addressing and minimizing these oral health disparities. 

In 2020 and into 2021 we worked together with our partners on the following oral health activities:  

Mouth Matters: Disability and Oral Health Webinar Series 

In June 2020, we offered a 2-Part Webinar Series - Mouth Matters: Disability and Oral Health

For more information on the two webinars and to access the archived webinars, click on the links below. 

Mouth Matters Session 1: Intended audience: people with I/DD and other disabilities, their families and disability service providers support staff, and dental professionals and students. View the recorded webinar here. View transcript here.

Mouth Matters Session 2: Intended audience: dental hygienists, other dental professionals and dental students. (Might also be of interest to people with I/DD and other disabilities, their families and disability service providers support staff.) CEUs are available for dental hygienists, dentists, and other health professionals. View the recorded webinar here. To access the webinar please click the top bar dated June 10th, labeled “SoD-Mouth Matters Webinars."