Risk Assessment Tool
Oral Health Risk Assessment tools should document the following components:
-
Caries risk and protective factors
-
Clinical findings
-
Anticipatory guidance provided
-
Referral to a dental home
The AAP and National Interprofessional Initiative on Oral Health (NIIOH) have collaborated to create a formal Oral Health Risk Assessment Tool piloted through the Quality Improvement Innovation Network (QuINN) and found:
-
Over 80% of practices reported the tool easy to implement.
-
Clinicians did not need to significantly alter current practice to incorporate risk assessment.
-
Bright Futures oral health recommendations can be implemented in just 2 minutes during the well child visit.
-
Identification of high-risk patients for oral health referral increased from 11% to over 87% with use of the tool.
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. Oral Health Initiative. Oral health risk assessment: training for pediatricians and other child health professionals. View site here.
Brightening Oral Health: Teaching and Implementing Oral Health Risk Assessments in Pediatric Care project. Brightening Oral Health Workgroup and Quality Improvement Innovation Networks, American Academy of Pediatrics Unpublished data. 2009.