Community-Academic Partnership to Improve the Oral Health of Underserved Schoolchildren in Rural North Carolina

BACKGROUND Dental caries is the most common chronic illness for children. Caries can reduce the quality of life, cause missed classroom hours, and decrease cognition. Strategies to improve children's oral health must be evidence-based, developed, and implemented in consultation with communities. METHODS A community-academic partnership was formed between East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine and the Bertie County Public School District to develop and implement a school-based oral health prevention program using the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model. RESULTS The PRECEDE component involved social, epidemiological, environmental, educational, ecological, administrative, and policy factors that informed the development of the oral health program. The PROCEED component consisted of implementation and evaluation. CONCLUSIONS School-based oral health programs can increase access to care for vulnerable children and improve learning. The application of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model proved to be a valuable method for developing, implementing, and evaluating a school-based oral health program.