Vermont Department of Health - Oral Health and 2 more... less...

OLH SHIP-related activities

WIC

% of children using WIC seen by Vermont Department of Health public health dental hygienists

Current Value

14%

Q3 2024

Definition

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Story Behind the Curve

Last Updated: April 16, 2024

Author: Office of Oral Health, Vermont Department of Health

As of 2024, one of Vermont’s 12 Offices of Local Health (Burlington) employs a Public Health Dental Hygienist (PHDH). PHDHs help to create a local environment that supports early preventive oral health care for families enrolled in the WIC program. PHDHs support Office of Local Health programs (e.g., community water fluoridation and the 802 Smiles Network) at the local level, support the integration of oral health messages and services as part of primary medical care, and provide oral health services for families (e.g., oral health risk assessments, fluoride varnish and silver diamine fluoride applications, oral health education, referral to dental homes). During the pandemic, PHDHs were deployed to emergency response positions, and were unable to meet with families. They have been able to resume seeing families in person over the past year. The low percentage of children being seen by a PHDH may have something to do with the fact that in-person WIC visits are still optional at this point. As WIC goes back to more in-person visits we expect this percentage to go up.

Please note: There were no services provided in Q2-Q4 of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so no data is provided for those dates. Also, the PHDH program decreased in size from 2019-2020 and again in 2024, so drastic changes in percentages during those times are likely reflective of staffing changes.

Partners

What Works

Addressing barriers to referrals from WIC staff to Public Health Dental Hygienists can increase the number percentage of children enrolled in WIC who are seen by a PHDH.

Action Plan

These are actions that can help turn the curve:

Help WIC staff understand the importance of oral health during early childhood and refer high risk children to the public health dental hygienist.
Provide ongoing supervision, training, and support for public health dental hygienists on topics such as motivational interviewing,care coordination, cultural competency, and communicating with parents, providers, and the public.
Reinstitute in-person WIC appointments so that clinical services can be offered to children (i.e., fluoride varnish and sliver diamine fluoride applications).

Notes on Methodology

This measure reflects the percent of children (ages 1-4) using WIC seen by public health dental hygienists in WIC offices. Prior to the second quarter of 2015, this measure included infants and children (0-4). To better reflect the different oral health needs of infants and children, starting in the second quarter of 2015, this measure was separated into two measures:

the % of infants (less than age 1) using WIC seen by public health dental hygienists in WIC offices
the % of children (ages 1-4) using WIC seen by public health dental hygienists in WIC offices.

This measure now includes children ages 1-4.

Prior to 2016, this percentage was measured as the number of children the PHDH saw as a percentage of all children who visited the WIC clinic that quarter. Beginning in 2016, this percentage was measured as the number of children the PHDH saw as a percentage of all children enrolled in WIC that quarter.

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