Prototype
100 Million Mouths Campaign
University of New Mexico School of Nursing
1. Organization
University of New Mexico School of Nursing
2. Initiative / Model Name
100 Million Mouths Campaign
3. Geography
State of New Mexico
4. Scale: Who and How Many It Serves
U and pediatric residents about the oral systemic-connection across the lifespan and fluoride varnish application
5. Sector
Education
What It Is & Who It Serves
6. Overview
Describe the model in plain terms: what it does, how it works, and how it collaborates with partners.
As the New Mexico 100 Million Mouths campaign oral health champion, I reach out to nurse practitioner, nursing, medical and residency programs across the state to integrate oral health into their curriculum. I have partnered with the UNM Dental Residency and Dental Hygiene programs for NP student experiences. I have presented to UNM pediatric residents about the benefits of fluoride varnish with pediatric patients. I have done outreach to the NMSU FNP program to present oral health to their students. I have also partnered with the New Mexico Dept. of Health to do oral assessments and fluoride varnish application when FNP and PNP students do sports physicals at local schools.
7. Population & Context
Who specifically does this serve? What community, setting, or system does it operate within?
My work focuses primarily on primary care, nursing, and medical educators and their students. The students integrate this paradigm in their clinical practice.
The Problem It Was Built to Solve
8. The Gap
What was broken, missing, or inaccessible before this model existed?
The challenge in this work remains reaching the faculty responsible for curriculum development and encouraging them to incorporate oral health into their curricula. Traditionally, oral health has been siloed from overall health, and there are currently no requirements that oral health be included in health professions curricula. Additionally, oral health is not routinely addressed on certification or board examinations. There is also no reimbursement on the medical side for primary care providers to incorporate an oral examination into routine clinical practice. These systemic barriers make it challenging to integrate oral health into primary care education and practice.
9. Why This Approach
What made integration the right answer, and what had already been tried without success?
I honestly believe that change will occur when policy requires it and there is reimbursement for incorporating oral health into primary care. Having oral health champions in primary care sites also helps with the integration of oral assessment practices.
Key Outcomes & Evidence
10. What the Data Shows
Share specific outcomes, metrics, or findings. Please be as concrete as possible.
I currently have only anecdotal data to demonstrate the impact of this work. However, when graduates of my program reach out to me after practicing for several years and share the oral health issues they have encountered, as well as the resources they have used to help their patients, I know that I have made a meaningful difference in their practice. These conversations provide some of the most rewarding evidence that integrating oral health into their education has had a lasting impact on how they care for their patients.
11. Current Status
Is this model active today? At what stage is it: pilot, scaling, or being replicated elsewhere?
I currently have primary care nurse practitioner students join me at the dental residency where I teach them oral examination skills. They see oral pathology and learn to recognize normal vs. abnormal structures in the mouth. The PA and NP students learn how to apply fluoride varnish and the billing codes. When I can get in to the pediatric residency program, I provide the same information.
