Gideon, S Turk
| Gideon, S Turk |
Gideon S Turk, Rachel S Hoagburg
Joan, I Gluch, Tatyana, A Straus, Deanne, E Wallaert
Division of Community Oral Health, Preventive & Restorative Sciences, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Description
Various community health honors students worked with Community Health Hygienists Deanne Wallaert, Debra Linkstrom, and Jill Klischies to make calls throughout the week. Up to three students worked with one dental hygienist to make calls for 3-4 hours in a single day to call about 10-15 patients per person.
Project Overview
The Teledental project was a combined effort of PDM and United Healthcare. UHC patients under the age of 21 in the Philadelphia area, who had not been to a dentist in over a year, had been called to help continue good dental care as well as to try to get them back into a dental office. The goals of the project were to assist those who face barriers in reaching dental care, learn new ways to reach the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, and gain a better understanding of barriers to access dental care for these patients.
Outcome
171 forms were filled out by patients or their caregivers. After IRB exemption was obtained, the data was analyzed and a study was conducted to make observations about the relationship Philadelphia area children have with their oral hygiene and how the covid-19 pandemic has impacted it.