By Annika Bannon, BS and Hugh Silk, MD MPH, University of Massachusetts Medical School
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) established the Committee on Oral Health (COH) in 2013 to promote collaboration between the fields of medicine and dentistry and improve the oral health care patients receive when accessing medical services.
The MMS COH is the only committee of its kind in the United States; no other state medical society has a similar counterpart. Founded and chaired by Hugh Silk, MD, MPH, the committee is comprised of individuals with diverse professional backgrounds including family medicine, pediatric, and otolaryngology physicians, oral surgeons, general dentists, and a state dental society representative.
Committee goals include promoting oral health awareness, improving the oral health care patients receive when accessing medical services, and facilitating interdisciplinary teamwork. To promote awareness, the committee has published newsletter articles for MMS physicians on topics such as the value of mouth guards for athletes, dental benefits available to Medicaid beneficiaries, geriatric oral health, and information about the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s 2016 Oral Health Practice Guidelines for Pregnancy and Early Childhood. We have educated the public about the importance of oral health through a televised segment on Physician Focus, a talk show aired on public access stations across Massachusetts. In an effort to improve the care that patients receive in emergency departments (ED), the committee partnered with state Medicaid to educate ED professionals on how best to care for patients with dental needs and how to make systematic dental referrals. This led to the establishment of a state-wide Medicaid ED referral portal.
Most recently, the committee partnered with like-minded groups including the Massachusetts Dental Society, the DentaQuest Foundation, and the Better Oral Health for Massachusetts Coalition, to promote “speed-dating” events that brought local dentists and physicians together to improve their referral systems.
We are currently planning a Medical/Dental Conference alongside the Massachusetts Dental Society and MA Department of Public Health in May 2018 to educate dental and medical professionals about the state Perinatal Oral Health Guidelines. As it looks forward, the committee will continue to advocate for better integration of oral health care in medicine and look for ways to encourage similar collaboration between other state medical and dental societies.
For inquiries, contact MMS Staff Liason, Candace Savage, at csavage@mms.org.