Oral Health

RI Oral Health Program

Programs & Activities

State-Based Oral Disease Prevention Program (Oral Health Infrastructure Development)
Rhode Island is one of 12 states and one territory funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish, strengthen, and expand capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate population-based oral disease prevention and health promotion programs. With this support, the OHP has made significant progress towards building a sustainable administrative structure with oral health and public health leadership and staff to address the oral health of all Rhode Islanders.

RI Early Childhood Oral Health (ECOH) Initiative
Supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the ECOH project has facilitated infrastructure development and maintenance of a public/private/not-for-profit coalition targeting improved access to oral health promotion and disease prevention services for Head Start/Early Head Start and other underserved children.

RI Oral Disease Prevention Partnerships
This project supports interdisciplinary partnerships to plan and implement effective prevention strategies that will improve oral health outcomes for pregnant women, underserved children and their families and caregivers. This project is supported by the State Oral Health Collaborative Systems (SOHCS) Grant Program through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

RI Health Professional Loan Repayment Program
Seeking to improve the quality and accessibility of primary health care services for underserved populations statewide, the Rhode Island Health Professional Loan Repayment Program (RI HPLRP) offers repayment of educational loans to eligible health professionals, including dentists and dental hygienists. Providers must make a two-year commitment to work in approved public or non-profit agencies that serve vulnerable populations in designated health professional shortage areas.

NHSC SEARCH Program (Student/Resident Experiences And Rotations in Community Health)
The SEARCH Program in Rhode Island is supported by the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) in cooperation with the Office of Primary Care, Rhode Island Department of Health. The program provides health professions residents and students (including dental residents and dental or dental hygiene students) with community-oriented primary care training experience in underserved areas of Rhode Island.

Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)
The Oral Health Program, in collaboration with Family Voices of RI, has been funded to convene a statewide forum to address the oral health of children with special health care needs.

Providence Senior Smiles Project
The Providence Senior Smiles Project, a collaboration between the Departments of Elderly Affairs and Health, is an oral health surveillance, health promotion and disease prevention project targeting non-institutionalized elders at selected senior housing sites in Providence.