Title V Oral Health

Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant 5-Year Needs Assessment

All 59 states and jurisdictions receive Title V MCH Services Block Grant funds to ensure that pregnant women, infants, children, and adolescents, including those with special health care needs, have access to preventive and primary health care. The Title V legislation directs each state and jurisdiction to conduct a comprehensive, statewide MCH needs assessment every 5 years to identify the need for preventive and primary health care. The next 5-year needs assessment must be completed by July 15, 2025. Information from the needs assessment is used to select national performance measures (NPMs), select or develop state performance measures (SPMs), and develop a state action plan.

Title V MCH Services Block Grant National Performance Measure on Preventive Dental Visit

The NPM on preventive dental visit represents one of the priority areas that impact multiple MCH population groups (e.g., pregnant women, children, adolescents). It has two measures:

• Percentage of women who had a preventive dental visit during pregnancy
• Percentage of children and adolescents ages 1–17 who had a preventive dental visit in the last year

States are not required to choose both parts of the NPM on preventive dental visit. A state can choose a preventive dental visit during pregnancy without choosing a preventive dental visit for children and adolescents, or vice versa.

The NPM on preventive dental visit during pregnancy provides opportunities for systems change by integrating oral health care into primary care. For example, states can develop and implement initiatives that encourage prenatal care health professionals to refer pregnant women for oral health care.

The NPM on preventive dental visit for children and adolescents reflects the percentage of children and adolescents ages 1–17 who had a preventive dental visit in the last year, which shows the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s (MCHB’s) longstanding emphasis on the importance of oral health and related interprofessional collaborative efforts on behalf of children’s and adolescents’ overall health and well-being. For example, MCHB has long supported fluoride varnish applications and dental sealant applications, which evidence has demonstrated reduce dental caries, for this population.

Resources

OHRC has gathered information and resources to help state MCH programs and state oral health programs include oral health in the 5-year needs assessment, select the NPM on preventive dental visit, develop an SPM on preventive dental visit, and include oral health in the state action plan.

Title V National Performance Measure on Preventive Dental Visit: Strategies for Success provides information to assist Title V MCH Services Block Gant Programs in states and jurisdictions in implementing the Title V national performance measure (NPM) on preventive dental visits for pregnant women and children and adolescents ages 1–17. The resource offers sample strategies, sample evidence-based or evidence-informed strategy measures (ESMs), possible data sources for ESMs, and a comprehensive list of resources.

5-Year Needs Assessment: General

• Exploring the Title V Federal-State Partnership
• MCH Needs Assessment Toolkit
• Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant
• Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to States Program Application/Annual Report Guidance

5-Year Needs Assessment: Oral Health

• Including Oral Health in the Title V Maternal and Child Health 5-Year Needs Assessment and State Action Plan
• Making a Pitch for Introducing Oral Health Issues to MCH Director or Title V Coordinator
• Rationale for Including Oral Health in the Title V Needs Assessment

National Performance Measure on Preventive Dental Visit

• AMCHP’s Implementation Toolkit for National Performance Measure 13
• MCH Title V National Performance Measure for Oral Health Summary
• NPM Webinar Series: Evidence-Based/Informed Strategies for Title V Programs—National Performance Measure 13
• Preventive Dental Visit—What Works Evidence Accelerator
• Preventive Dental Visits for Children and Adolescents Are Important! | Las visitas odontológicas preventivas para niños y adolescentes son importantes
• Preventive Dental Visits for Pregnant Women Are Important! | Las visitas odontológicas preventivas para mujeres embarazadas son importantes
• Snapshot of the U.S. Jurisdictions’ Activities Addressing Title V National Performance Measure 13 (Oral Health) During Fiscal Year 2022
• Title V National Performance Measure 13 (Oral Health): Fiscal Year 2021 Snapshot
• Title V National Performance Measure on Preventive Dental Visit: Strategies for Success

Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, MCH Innovation Database

• Emerging Practice: Children’s Dental Services, Minnesota
• Emerging Practice: Healthy Teeth Healthy Babies, Colorado
• Emerging Practice: Home by One Program, Connecticut
• Emerging Practice: Improving Oral Health Outcomes for Pregnant Women and Infants by Educating Home Visitors, Virginia
• Promising Practice: Virtual Dental Home Project, Hawaii

States and Jurisdictions Addressing Preventive Dental Visit

FY ’25: 28 states and jurisdictions selected preventive dental visit.

Alabama (both), American Samoa (childhood), Arizona (both), Arkansas (pregnancy), Delaware (childhood), District of Columbia (childhood), Georgia (both), Guam (childhood), Idaho (childhood), Illinois (both), Iowa (both), Maine (childhood), Marshall Islands (childhood), Maryland (pregnancy), Michigan (both), Mississippi (both), Montana (childhood), Nebraska (childhood), New Jersey (childhood), New Mexico (childhood), Palau (both), Puerto Rico (both), South Carolina (childhood), Utah (childhood), Vermont (childhood), Virgin Islands (childhood), Virginia (both), and West Virginia (pregnancy)

States and jurisdictions that selected

• NPM during pregnancy are highlighted in yellow
• NPM during childhood are highlighted in blue
• NPM for both populations are highlighted in green

FY '24 and FY '23 NPM 13

FY '22 NPM 13

FY '21 NPM 13

FY '20 NPM 13

FY '19 NPM 13

FY '18 NPM 13