Kentucky Oral Health Coalition members and oral health advocates convened on Friday, September 22nd for the KOHC September Quarterly meeting. We began with introductions and an informal poll of participants to determine our level of experience with advocacy, with results being split. Alicia Whatley, Policy and Advocacy Director with Kentucky Youth Advocates, shared an Advocacy 101 presentation with ideas for how to participate in oral health advocacy and an overview of recent oral health priorities in Kentucky. Participants then met in small groups to discuss what they see in practice as opportunities to engage in oral health advocacy. Priorities shared out from the groups will inform the 2024 KOHC policy agenda to be voted on at our December annual meeting. They included improved Medicaid reimbursements, increasing workforce opportunities for dental hygienists with loan repayment and career growth, and educating legislators about oral health.

Alicia then updated members on the Adult Medicaid Dental Expansion which is currently active and available for patients and providers. KOHC members and oral health advocates have expressed support of the expansion, but more advocacy is needed since it still may be rescinded by the legislature in 2024.

Participants were next invited to advise on KOHC’s development of between two to five patient–focused education resources, which will be featured as part of a new landing page on the KOHC website. The page will feature existing and new KOHC resources as well as links to national oral health education sites.

Dr. Pam Stein shared the following updates about the University of Pikeville College of Dental Medicine:

  • Architects have been hired to transform the former Appalachian News Express building into the University of Pikeville College of Dental Medicine
  • Dr. Stein and Dr. Jill Keaton are traveling in and around Kentucky to recruit students from 10 rural colleges to enroll at UPike Dental starting in summer 2025. They will visit larger state schools as well but are focusing on students in rural areas who are more likely to stay and work in their communities after graduation.
  • Dr. Stein and Dr. Keaton are also traveling throughout the country to visit dental schools with strong and innovative programs to learn more about best practices to bring back to Kentucky. There will be more to come, but the following are definite commitments:
    •  Robust student clinic
    • Clinic for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities
    • Specialty pediatric clinic
    • Clinic for patients in pain (walk-in basis) as part of the student clinic where students will assist with extractions
    • Students will work at FQHCs in their senior year to provide care and help with workforce shortages, as well as partnering with dentists in rural and underserved areas
    • A $1.5 million grant has been awarded from the Appalachian Regional Commission for purchase of equipment for the student clinic.
    • UPike Dental has been invited to the ADA annual session in October where an announcement will be made about awardees for the Center for Research, Education, and Technology grant. If awarded, they would be the only school in Kentucky to have a state-of-the-art CRET center.

We heard updates from our members:

  • Dr. Steve Robertson shared that the American Dental Association is working on the Kentucky insurance reform bill that passed in 2022, which had strong bipartisan support and would help patients and providers, but has never been fully enacted or implemented by the Department of Insurance.
  • Jennifer Hasch is finishing up the Statewide Surveillance Project with the University of Kentucky and the Department of Health and will have report on the findings from data collected in nearly every county in Kentucky at the KOHC December Annual Meeting.
  • Upcoming conference and volunteer opportunities were mentioned:
    • November 5-8: NNOHA in Denver, CO. A few people from Kentucky will be presenting.
    • December 1: The KOHC December Annual Meeting will convene in person in Lexington, and in addition to Jennifer’s presentation will feature a keynote from Dr. Adrienne Lapidos. Dr. Lapidos is a practicing psychologist and professor from the University of Michigan who will present on the connections between oral health and behavioral health. A representative from the Office of Community Health Workers will also present on how community health workers can be helpful in a dental practice. REGISTER HERE!
    • December 2-3: The RAM clinic will be in Mayfield, KY offering walk-in free care to all ages.
    • The Post Clinic in Mount Sterling needs volunteers. They are a free dental and medical clinic that needs dentists.  They are currently building a new clinic which will include 3 treatment rooms for dental treatment.

Linda Stettenbenz, Project Manager for Kentucky Youth Advocates, closed out the meeting with information about KOHC membership and sponsorship opportunities.

View a recording of the meeting here; meeting slides can be found here.