Why Is This Important?

Oral health care is an essential component of total health care. Good oral health enhances our ability to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch, chew, swallow, and convey our feelings and emotions through facial expressions. However, oral diseases, which range from cavities to oral cancer, cause pain and disability for millions. Regular dental visits provide an opportunity for early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment as well as oral hygiene education. Regular dental visits are important in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of oral and craniofacial diseases and conditions for all ages. Adults need regular professional care to avoid tooth loss, the need for complex restorative treatment, and even systemic health problems. Even people without teeth need to be monitored regularly for oral health which may be affected by systemic conditions, medications, prosthetic devices, and exposure to tobacco. Infrequent use of dental services has been associated with poor oral health among adults.

Definition

Percentage of adults who last visited a dentist or a dental clinic in the last 12 months. Visits may have been for any reason, including visits to dental specialists, such as orthodontists. Question Text: "How long has it been since you last visited a dentist or a dental clinic for any reason? Interviewer Instruction: Include visits to dental specialists, such as orthodontists."

Data Sources

• Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health
  (http://www.nj.gov/health/chs/njbrfs/)
• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.html)

How the Measure is Calculated

How Are We Doing?

In 2020, 68.0% of New Jersey adults reported visiting a dentist or dental clinic in the past year (age-adjusted rate). New Jersey adults with higher educational attainment are more likely to report a dental visit in the past year than those with less education. Hispanics (58%) and Blacks (61%) have a lower age-adjusted prevalence of dental visits compared to Whites (73%) and Asians (70%) in the state.

What Is Being Done?

In July 2019, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) onboarded a new State Dental Director, the first in over 30 years, to lead and oversee the Oral Health Services Unit (OHSU), New Jersey's leading public health service unit responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive oral health policies to ensure positive oral health outcomes for residents. The OSHU works collaboratively with colleagues throughout the NJDOH and other executive agencies to foster policies and implement interventions intended to lead to positive oral health outcomes. Additionally, the OHSU collaborates with stakeholder organizations, such as the New Jersey Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Maternal and Child Health Consortia, New Jersey Primary Care Association, local health departments, and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) to increase the number of all residents who have access to and use the oral health system in New Jersey.

Evidence-based Practices

In 2022 the Oral Health Services Unit finished the development of New Jersey's 1st ever State Oral Health Plan, 2023-2028. A State Oral Health Plan is a public health strategic plan to systematically address the burden of oral diseases and to enhance the oral health of the citizens residing in the state. Such a plan is key to establishing a vision for improving the oral health and well-being of the residents of state and local communities, developing policies, and targeting actions. Lastly, the development of a State Oral Health Plan is an evidence-based recommendation and best practice approach identified by the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Oral Health. In 2022 the Oral Health Services Unit conducted New Jersey's first-ever Basic Screening Survey (BSS) for third-grade students in New Jersey. The BSS is a tool for gathering data for immediate oral health actions, including guiding, planning, implementing, and evaluating programs to prevent and control disease. Additionally, the BSS is an evidence-based, public health surveillance activity that measures and monitors the burden of oral disease at a level consistent with the Healthy People objectives in oral health including the prevalence of dental caries experience, untreated dental decay, dental sealants, and use of the dental care system. Grantees from the Children's Oral Health Program (COHP) conducted oral health screenings of over 1,400 third-grade students at approximately 30 schools throughout the state, representing a statistically significant random sample to gather baseline data on the oral health status of NJ school children. The collected data will be reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Oral Health Surveillance System (NOHSS), marking the 1st time New Jersey has participated and submitted reporting data.

Available Services

The OHSU maintains and disseminates a list of facilities, centers, and programs that provide oral health and dental care services. The [https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/oral/community.shtml/ New Jersey Dental Clinic Directory] provides a central source of information on public dental clinics and services in New Jersey. These oral health and dental care services are primarily provided by local health departments, hospital dental departments and residency programs, the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/oral/documents/dental_directory.pdf

More Resources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/ Oral Health]

Health Program Information

All inquiries and requests for technical assistance should be directed to the New Jersey Oral Health Services Unit at oralhealth@doh.nj.gov.