SEEDS Initiative

For this project, the UCLA School of Detistry School of Dentistry (SOD) and the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) Office of Oral Health (OOH) have partnered with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Local Oral Health Programs (LOHPs) and School districts (SDs) in high-oral health need San Joaquin Valley counties to address the dental workforce needs and oral health needs of underserved populations groups living in dental health professional shortage areas.The project aims to develop and implement new community linkage partnerships between school districts and dental care delivery sites through innovative strategies that will link school children with unmet dental needs to dental care delivery sites through an electronic dental referral management system (EDRMS) and care coordination. In addition, the project has contributed to SOD’s Community-Based Clinical Education (CBCE) program expansion by funding student travel expenses for two new CBCE sites between 2022 through 2024. More than 40 final-year dental students have provided quality dental care services to underserved population groups and improved access to care in SJV through the California SEEDS initiative.

The EDRMS, a unique platform, is being developed by Dr. Honghu Liu, the section chair, through OOH funding. This project is in a pivotal stage, and the platform will be implemented in multiple school settings in two high-need SJV counties.  In years three and year four of the grant, we plan to implement the EDRMS and understand pre-implementation and post-implementation outcomes. The OOH will use the lessons learned to help facilitate the implementation of the EDRMS statewide by LOHPs in school settings.