Sharing Our Outcomes
In 2005, oral health care for young children was a subtly explored topic for many in public health. Unless you were a dentist, dental hygienist, or other dental specialist, community-centered messages were few and far between concerning brushing, flossing, and having fluoride varnish applications (FVA).

We would like to express our sincere appreciation for all those who have made MNOHP a successful oral health care initiative over the last 15 years.  To our Leadership Team for their generous volunteer time to promote the project; our consultants for taking our message into the community with children and families; and White Buffalo…

Linda Maytan, DDS, MPH is the MN Department of Human Services Dental Policy Director for Minnesota Health Care Programs (Medicaid). She has observed oral health care outcomes among Minnesota’s children and has a broad perspective as a policy maker and a former dental practitioner. Dr. Maytan believes, “We need to create a new norm for oral health prevention among Minnesota’s children.”
Dr. Maytan was recently interviewed by MNOHP to gather her current perspectives. Several key questions were posed concerning Minnesota’s greatest child oral health successes in recent years, next steps for increasing Minnesota’s oral health care for children, and our statewide impact on children’s oral health.

Dr. Khanal was astounded when she found children missing appointments for free dental care in Minnesota. Not all families had cars to drive to the appointment, some of them could not speak in English and many of them had competing priorities that forced them to underutilize the dental service for their children. Dr. Khanal handed bus passes to parents and navigated resources which made her think about the impact of social determinants for improving the oral health of children.

By Melissa Walden, MNONP Consultant and Educator “1-2-3…Come read, brush, sing and play with me!” Preschool and family story hours are powerful, interactive ways to reach families with young children on good oral health practices and early caries prevention! Throughout 2019, we read and shared the Minnesota Oral Health Project’s (MNOHP) new book, “Bye, Bye…

By Barbara Greene, MPH, Consultant & Educator The Fluoride Guy Amos S. Deinard, Jr., MD, MPH is well-known in health care circles as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School and School of Public Health. While this is his official title, he is most frequently known as “The Fluoride Guy”.…

By Barbara Greene, MPH, Consultant & Educator Establishing new family rituals for brushing teeth is an excellent way to make brushing and bedtime oral health preparation easier! Parents often tell us, “I let my daughter brush my teeth sometimes, so she will let me brush hers without argument.” Still others create nightly rituals by suggesting,…

Nasra Budul is an oral health educator and Community Health Worker in Minneapolis public and charter schools. As an educator of children age fourteen and younger, Nasra is keenly aware of oral health disparities within her Somali community. She educates school systems, helps get children to preventive dental visits twice each school year, and visits…

Havva Zeynep Ertugrul, DMD is a highly skilled board certified pediatric dentist and Diplomate of American Board of Pediatric Dentistry at Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC), a federally-funded Minneapolis community health/dental clinic seeing a diverse patient population. Dr. Ertugrul provides care for all pediatric oral health patients including Mexican, Central and South American, Somali, East African, First Nation, and other ancestries. She uses multicultural materials and translated oral health education resources on a daily basis to change severe oral health situations into childhood success stories.