“Think Teeth” Oral Health Education Materials Help Medicaid/CHIP Enrollment

Good oral health is critically important for the overall health and well-being of children. Parents greatly value having access to dental services – in fact, in a national survey of parents with children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, 68 percent said knowing their children can get dental care is a “very motivating” reason to enroll in Medicaid or CHIP.

But too many eligible children are not enrolled: according to an Urban Institute evaluation of the CHIP program, in 2012 an estimated 3.7 million children were eligible for Medicaid and CHIP but were not enrolled.

You can help get more eligible children covered and improve their access to dental services. This site has a user-friendly “Think Teeth” web page to make it easier to find a variety of free materials that can help health professionals, navigators and certified application counselors, and other stakeholders raise oral health awareness and encourage enrollment. These posters, flyers and fact sheets include oral health information for pregnant women, babies and toddlers, good dental habits for children of all ages, and steps parents of children with special needs can take to find the right dentist.

Please help promote the “Think Teeth” web page and the free, downloadable materials for families:

1. Incorporate information from this email in your newsletters and e-updates — or in other materials you share with children’s health stakeholders.
2. Add a link from your website to the “Think Teeth” page of educational and outreach materials.

This is part of the observation of National Children’s Dental Health Month (February 2015) and the ongoing Connecting Kids to Coverage Campaign, an effort to reach out and enroll eligible children whose families may not know how to apply for Medicaid and CHIP or may mistakenly think their children do not qualify. With health coverage, parents know their children can get preventive services and the care they need when they are sick or injured. Join with us to help more families gain the security that comes with health coverage and to inform them about the dental benefits that are essential to keeping children healthy.