After a 10-year run, La Plata County has suspended its Regional Oral Health Program and is preparing to trial a new model.
The program ended after La Plata County Public Health Department faced a number of challenges, including funding uncertainty. Colorado has not yet received its notice of award for several federal grants that have supported the program since its inception, typically from the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Theresa Anselmo, the health department’s director.
More importantly, Anselmo said: La Plata County Public Health’s only registered dental hygienist left the department in August.
“Without a dental hygienist, we couldn’t run the program, and recruitment would have taken too long,” she said. “So we shifted directions and took the program internal to our medical clinical staff.”
To continue oral health services, county commissioners unanimously approved a grant application to the Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation to launch a pilot program that integrates dental care into routine clinic visits.
Delta Dental partners with community organizations across Colorado to fund programs that address oral health disparities and expand the health care workforce. The foundation previously awarded the county a three-year grant that is nearing completion.
The county is seeking $75,000 to support staffing, supplies and training over a one-year period.
According to the grant application, the initiative would roll out in phases: first by training and equipping staff, then by providing screenings, fluoride varnish, education and supplies to children under 9 and adults over 60, and finally by evaluating the program’s impact to determine if oral health can become a permanent part of county health care.
The program would focus on children and seniors from low-income households and rural or underserved communities. The county cited a shortage of Medicaid dental providers, limited community water fluoridation outside Durango and health care workforce shortages as key barriers.
Oral health is directly tied to overall health, Anselmo emphasized.
“If you have diabetes, for example, and gum disease, your diabetes is harder to control,” she said. “There are also connections to heart disease, stroke and even dementia. People should not wait or forego oral health care, because there are significant consequences to not taking care of your oral health.”
The previous program, which served San Juan, Archuleta and Montezuma counties, focused on school-aged children and Head Start participants, providing in-school evaluations, cleanings, sealants and family education. The new model brings those services into the clinic, making preventive care more accessible for patients already seeking medical attention.
“If we have the opportunity to bring services back in the way of the regional oral health specialist programming, we will certainly do that if we are able to rehire and receive funding,” Anselmo said.
“You can’t take the mouth out of the body,” she said. “The longer you wait, the worse it’s going to be.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
