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The Development and Implementation of a School-Based Dental Sealant Program for Hawaii Public Schools
Deborah Mattheus1, Joanne R Loos2, Azeema Vogeler3
1Hawaii Keiki: Healthy & Ready to Learn, Professor, Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing (NAWSON), University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), HI. Honolulu, Honolulu, HI; NAWSON, UHM.
Background:
School-based dental sealant programs are noted to increase sealant uptake among children, especially those from low-income families and those living in rural and underserved areas. However, nationally school-based dental sealant programs are substantially underutilized. This paper describes a partnership approach to a school-based dental sealant program for Title 1 public schools in Hawaii.
Methods:
The Hawaii Keiki: Healthy and Ready to Learn program partnered with the Hawaii Dental Service to develop and implement an interprofessional, school-based sealant program (SBSP). This article describes the development of key factors, such as partnerships, an interprofessional team, team roles, policies, and marketing tools to optimize program success.
Results:
The SBSP has completed over 3 academic years of implementation in Hawaii public schools. In its initial year (school year [SY] 2019-2020), which presented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it served 6 schools (106 students screened) on 1 island. It expanded to 14 schools on 1 island (193 students screened) in its second year (SY 2020-2021), 28 schools on 3 islands (653 students screened) in its third year (SY 2021-2022), and during the Fall of the fourth year, the program reached 50 schools on 3 islands (1821 students screened) and is projected to reach over 70 schools by the end of SY 2022-2023.
Conclusion:
Taking advantage of strategic partnerships and key interprofessional team members, a school-based dental sealant program can help to improve the oral health of children in public schools by helping to decrease barriers to care.
