The Health Foundation of Central Mass

24 D r. John Gusha, a dentist practicing in Holden, was volunteering his services at a health clinic in Shrewsbury when he realized there was a desperate need for better access to adequate dental care. Many of the patients who came to the clinic had MassHealth for insurance. At that time, fewer than 10 dentists in Central Massachusetts were serving MassHealth members and most were not accepting new patients, which limited access to dental care. e situation prompted Dr. Gusha to act. He in- formed his colleagues at the Worcester District Dental Society, and the group de- cided to create the Worcester Dental Collaborative in 1999. With Dr. Gusha as its chair, the collaborative met for a year and developed compre- hensive dental care plans for patients with limited access. is work prompted the creation of the Central Massachusetts Oral Health Initiative (CMOHI). To fund the program, Dr. Gusha turned to e Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts seeking grant funding. "I'd never written a grant, but e Health Foundation walked me through each step of the process," he said. It became one of the first initiatives funded by e Health Foundation. In addition to financial assis- tance, e Health Foundation remained engaged with the project throughout the life of the grant. e statistics regarding oral health were troubling at the time. In Worcester County, 35,000 children and 65,000 adults had no access to dental care. Chronic oral infections caused absenteeism and result- ed in health problems later in life, such as heart disease, diabetes, low birth weight and pre-term births. A Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey that examined the years 1999 to 2006 indicated that Worcester adults were slightly less likely than Massachusetts residents overall to have had a dental visit in the past year. In 2003, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted a survey of third graders in lower income schools and found that a higher percentage of these students was likely to have at least one filling, one untreated cavity, no sealants, and a need for emergency care. Additionally, in Worcester, the lack of fluoridation in the water system increased the need for other dental interventions. ese factors justified targeting schools with a high percentage of low-income stu- dents for oral health education, screening, dental sealants, and referral for treatment. CMOHI utilized a multipronged ap- proach aimed at tackling different aspects of the problem. From November 2000 to June 2011, CMOHI accomplished an im- pressive number of tasks, including: • recruiting volunteer dentists; • developing a fluoride education campaign; SYNERGY INITIATIVE - ROUND 1 Oral Health Initiatives: Dental Inadequacies Prompt Action CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS ORAL HEALTH INITIATIVE Timeframe: 2000 – 2011* Lead Organization: UMass Medical School Evaluator: The Consultation Center Total Amount Funded: $3.6 million *Project was extended multiple years in order to develop an advanced education in general dentistry residency program at Community Health Connections in Fitchburg which began in 2014.

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