New Mexico’s 100 Million Mouths Campaign brings oral health into healthcare education through faculty outreach, clinical partnerships, and hands-on training for future primary care providers.

About the Initiative

The New Mexico 100 Million Mouths Campaign works with nursing, nurse practitioner, medical, and residency programs to integrate oral health into healthcare education.

Led by the state’s campaign oral health champion at the University of New Mexico School of Nursing, the initiative combines curriculum outreach with clinical experiences that help students connect oral health with overall health across the lifespan.

Partnerships with dental education programs and public health organizations give students opportunities to develop oral assessment skills and apply their learning in clinical and community settings.

Who It Serves

The initiative primarily serves healthcare educators and students, including nursing, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, medical, and pediatric residency learners.

Its reach extends to the patients and communities these learners serve as they incorporate oral health into their clinical practice.

Organization: University of New Mexico School of Nursing
Geography: State of New Mexico
Sector: Education
Focus: Oral health integration in health professions education and primary care

The Gap It Addresses

Oral health has traditionally been taught and delivered separately from overall healthcare. Integrating it into health professions education requires reaching faculty responsible for curriculum development and supporting them in making room for oral health content.

The initiative identifies competing curriculum priorities, limited emphasis on oral health in certification examinations, and reimbursement challenges as barriers to wider adoption.

Addressing these barriers requires educational partnerships, clinical champions, and policy and payment approaches that support oral health integration.

How the Approach Works

The initiative connects classroom learning with practical experience through:

• Faculty and program outreach: Working with health professions programs across New Mexico to incorporate oral health into their curricula.
• Dental education partnerships: Collaborating with UNM Dental Residency and Dental Hygiene programs to provide clinical learning experiences for nurse practitioner students.
• Bedside and clinical assessment skills: Teaching students to examine the mouth, distinguish normal from abnormal structures, and recognize oral pathology.
• Fluoride varnish education: Training physician assistant and nurse practitioner students in fluoride varnish application and related billing codes, with additional outreach to pediatric residents.
• Community-based experiences: Partnering with the New Mexico Department of Health to incorporate oral assessments and fluoride varnish into school sports physicals involving family and pediatric nurse practitioner students.
• Statewide collaboration: Extending outreach to programs such as the New Mexico State University Family Nurse Practitioner program.

Evidence and Early Impact

Evidence of impact is currently anecdotal. Graduates have reported recognizing oral health concerns in practice and using resources introduced during their training to help patients.

These accounts suggest that oral health education can influence clinical practice beyond graduation. Formal outcome measures and quantitative program results were not provided in the submission.

Current Activities and Next Steps

The initiative continues to provide clinical learning experiences through the dental residency program, where primary care nurse practitioner students develop oral examination skills and encounter a range of oral conditions.

Physician assistant and nurse practitioner students also receive instruction in fluoride varnish application and related billing codes. Similar education is offered to pediatric residents as opportunities become available.

Continued priorities include expanding faculty engagement, strengthening clinical partnerships, and supporting oral health champions within primary care settings.