title: Effectiveness of an Alternative Dental Workforce Model on the Oral Health of Low-Income Children in a School-Based Setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the effect of an alternative dental workforce program-Kansas's Extended Care Permit (ECP) program--as a function of changes in oral health.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined data from the 2008 to 2012 electronic medical records of children (n = 295) in a Midwestern US suburb who participated in a school-based oral health program in which preventive oral health care was delivered by ECP dental hygienists. We examined changes in oral health status as a function of sealants, caries, restorations, and treatment urgency with descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Pearson correlations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of encounters with the ECP dental hygienist had a statistically significant effect on changes in decay (P = .014), restorations (P = .002), and treatment urgency (P = .038). Based on Pearson correlations, as encounters increased, there was a significant decrease in decay (-0.12), increase in restorations (0.21), and decrease in treatment urgency (-0.15).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing numbers of encounters with alternative providers (ECP dental hygienists), such as with school-based oral health programs, can improve the oral health status of low-income children who would not otherwise have received oral health services.
authors.affiliation: Melanie Simmer-Beck and Bonnie Branson are with the Department of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mary Walker is with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cynthia Gadbury-Amyot is with the Division of Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ying Liu is with Research and Graduate Programs, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Patricia Kelly is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simmer-Beck
authors.affiliation: Melanie Simmer-Beck and Bonnie Branson are with the Department of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mary Walker is with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cynthia Gadbury-Amyot is with the Division of Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ying Liu is with Research and Graduate Programs, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Patricia Kelly is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Melanie Simmer-Beck and Bonnie Branson are with the Department of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mary Walker is with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cynthia Gadbury-Amyot is with the Division of Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ying Liu is with Research and Graduate Programs, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Patricia Kelly is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gadbury-Amyot
authors.affiliation: Melanie Simmer-Beck and Bonnie Branson are with the Department of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mary Walker is with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cynthia Gadbury-Amyot is with the Division of Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ying Liu is with Research and Graduate Programs, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Patricia Kelly is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Melanie Simmer-Beck and Bonnie Branson are with the Department of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mary Walker is with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cynthia Gadbury-Amyot is with the Division of Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ying Liu is with Research and Graduate Programs, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Patricia Kelly is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Melanie Simmer-Beck and Bonnie Branson are with the Department of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mary Walker is with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cynthia Gadbury-Amyot is with the Division of Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ying Liu is with Research and Graduate Programs, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Patricia Kelly is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Branson
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003756:Dental Hygienists; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007615:Kansas; D008297:Male; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009909:Oral Health; D011203:Poverty; D011313:Preventive Dentistry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012571:School Dentistry / Q000458:organization & administration*