Dental Professionals Continuing Education Courses

The Community Dental Health Coordinator (CDHC) program teaches community health worker skills to a dental or other health professional who may be from a private practice or public health setting.

Many people are unsure about what dental services are necessary, where those services are located, or how to begin to access those services. A professional with CDHC training is able to help with those issues through culturally competent “case management” strategies.

CDHCs assist with reducing anxiety that often accompanies dental treatment, explain how dental disease begins, describe various dental procedures, and explain how dental appointment protocols work. They may do this within a multi-specialty care facility, a community clinic or within a primary care medical site.

By connecting patients with already existing (often underutilized) dental care sites, CDHCs can reduce hospital ED use for dental pain management. Compliance with home care oral hygiene recommendations is improved while oral health becomes integrated into the patient’s overall health plan.

CDHCs help parents gain a greater insight into how to safeguard the oral health of their family. They guide efficient management of oral health issues throughout the lifespan, including pregnant women, infants, and the elderly. Courses will cover advocacy, intercultural communication, finance, dental health coordination, documentation and reporting procedures. Legal and ethical issues will also be covered.

The University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College is the only college in Ohio offering this program.

Applicants who are accepted and enroll in the Community Dental Health Coordination (CDHC) program will be exposed to blood-borne and infectious diseases. The program strictly adheres to established policies and procedures regarding infection control as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The American Dental Association, The Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Depending on the site selected for Internship hours, you may be required to have current proof of immunizations for that site, and as such, you will need to be prepared well in advance. However, immunizations are not required to enroll in the CDHC program.

Healthcare Program students are required to learn CPR by completing an acceptable Basic Life Support course. CPR certification must include infant, child, and adult, 1 and 2 man rescuer, AED, and evidence of a hands-on skills component.

Becoming a Certified Dental Health Care Coordinator will not only bolster your resume, but it will also provide an awarding career path. CDHC’s are community health workers with dental skills who are members of the dental team. Their expertise links patients to available, but underutilized, dental care.

They focus on case management, navigation, oral health education and promotion, motivational interviewing, and community mapping.

According to the ADA’s website, CDHC’s can have an enormous impact on a community. Here are just a few examples: One CDHC provided services to 114 patients in a rural tribal community health center’s diabetes clinic. The missed appointment rate for diabetes patients dropped to zero, compared with a clinic-wide rate of 18 percent.

Another CDHC at a Midwest Indian Health Service clinic provided services valued at more than $105,000 to 240 children at Head Start and daycare centers over a 10-month period. A CDHC working in a single-dentist practice in a remote, rural location nearly doubled the clinic’s productivity in 2011 over the prior year.

• The courses are structured as modules. All of the modules listed must be completed to obtain a Certificate as a Community Dental Health Coordinator.
• Modules: Advocacy and Outreach, Communication and Cultural Competency, Interviewing Skills, Legal and Ethical Issues, Prevention of Oral Cancer, Finance and Payments, Internship
• Course work will be completed through the Canvas online platform and can be accessed at any time. Synchronous online meetings on a monthly basis. 

Identify a dentist or coordinating provider in the community who agrees to work with you in a supervisory capacity throughout the CDHC program, providing guidance for the final project implementation during the Internship course.

Students must be Registered Dental Hygienists or Certified Dental Assistants. Applicants are required to provide documentation of licensure or certification according to their individual state's dental practice act.

Applicants must meet one of the following criteria:

• Registered Dental Hygienist (submit RDH license only)
• Certified Dental Assistant (submit CDA certification only) with the ability to perform the following procedures:
  • Ability to take radiographs
  • Ability to place fluoride
  • Ability to perform coronal polishing