Title:Oral health disparities program expands community outreach

Citing longstanding research showing that oral health is connected to systemic health, Georgetown’s Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research is conducting oral health-focused community outreach at the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention, which is located in a historically underserved area of Washington, DC.

“Dentists often don’t have time to talk to patients about anything besides brushing and flossing, but issues like tobacco and alcohol use affect oral health,” explains Chiranjeev Dash, associate director of community outreach and engagement and recipient of the George E. Richmond term professorship in the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research at Georgetown Lombardi. “At our ‘community grand rounds,’ we teach that poor oral health has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and low birth-weight babies.”

At each community event, there’s a conversation, followed by questions and short survey.

“Oral health disparities are really high in DC black men, so we want to educate the community,” explains Dash. “For example our FLOSS program [Facilitated Lessons on Oral and Systemic Health in Survivors] teaches how gum disease can lead to heart disease and cancer. We have another program on HPV vaccination since HPV has been found to be associated with oropharyngeal and other cancers.”

The office has produced a resource directory listing 59 DC-based oral health providers that accept Medicaid and/or Amerihealth.

The program is made possible by grants from the Richmond Foundation. In addition to outreach efforts, the foundation supports several oral health scholars at Georgetown.

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