Oral Health Literacy

This handout for health professionals provides tips on how to write oral health materials that are easy for people to understand. It includes ideas about words to use and not to use, tone, voice (active vs. passive), and layout. Effectively using headings and lists is also discussed, along with the best way to write sentences and paragraphs to make the text simple and clear. How to incorporate technical words, when necessary, is explained. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

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This resource guide features materials on policy; professional education, tools, and training; program development; and public education. A list of relevant organizations is included. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

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This video discusses why health literacy is an overarching goal of Healthy People 2030 and explains what health literacy means. It also considers how organizations and professionals can improve their oral health literacy, why universal-health-literacy approaches benefit everyone, and how health professionals can use health-literacy strategies to encourage people to take part in health care decisions. In addition, it addresses how clear communication between health professionals and patients can improve health literacy and how being health literate can help people make informed decisions to improve their health.

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This summary describes a symposium that highlighted the career of Dr. Alice M. Horowitz and her contributions to the emergence and growth of oral health as a focus in the health literacy field and to charting a course for continued action. The summary includes symposium objectives and descriptions of presentations and breakout sessions.

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This toolkit for oral health professionals provides an overview of oral health literacy and why it matters, as well as tools for improving dental practices’ ability to communicate clearly and effectively. Resources include a guidebook, a dental-practice-assessment checklist, a tip sheet explaining the teach-back method, a brochure explaining what to expect during a dental visit, and an oral-health-literacy action plan for dental practices.

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This series of tip sheets is intended for Head Start staff to use to support the oral health of children and pregnant people enrolled in Head Start programs and their families. The tip sheets include up-to-date practices and practical tips to promote good oral health. Health and social service professionals interested in improving the oral health of children and pregnant people enrolled in Head Start and their families may also find Brush Up on Oral Health tip sheets helpful.

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This paper examines the ways that health literacy affects (1) patients’ decision-making about their oral health, oral health care, and dental insurance; (2) oral health professionals’ communications with patients, staff, and the community; and (3) dental insurance companies’ development and provision of dental insurance plans. It discusses health literacy in dental practices, health literacy training, and social determinants of health and oral health.

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These proceedings summarize presentations and discussions from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine workshop held on December 6, 2018. Topics include integration of oral health care, primary care, and health literacy; systems thinking, integration, and health literacy; health literacy and care integration; exploring pathways to integration; developing a research agenda for integration; and reflections on the workshop.

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This paper discusses challenges in integrating oral health care and primary care for populations with low health literacy. It provides background on the issue and focuses on weaknesses in the areas of communication, coordination, and referral. Topics include referral networks, risk management, clinical referral guidelines, performance measures, electronic tools and integrated health records, interprofessional education and collaborative practice, research, and demonstration programs.

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This fact sheet presents information on the effects of poor oral health on learning in school-age children. Topics include the impact of poor oral health on school performance and social relationships, nutrition and learning, school attendance and learning, and programs for improving oral health. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

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This course provides a definition of health literacy and discusses how health literacy and oral health literacy are measured, the role of oral health literacy in promoting oral health, and access to oral health care in private practice and in public health settings. The course describes ways that oral health literacy can influence long-term oral health outcomes and how oral-health-literate approaches can be integrated into private and public health organizations.

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