As part of the Kindergarten Oral Health Requirement, every child in public school in California must have an oral health assessment completed by a licensed dental professional by May 31 of their first year in school—generally transitional kindergarten or kindergarten. This requirement has been in place since 2007, after the landmark CDA-sponsored legislation was signed into law. The immediate goal is to identify children suffering from untreated dental disease, but the long-term goal is to help caretakers establish a dental home for their children.
As dentists, organizations and educators work together to promote the importance of early dental care and prevention, CDA reminds dentists and dental professionals to expect to receive an oral health assessment form and be ready to complete section 2.
Dentists typically receive the form from the child’s parent or guardian, who will complete section 1 and return the form to the child’s school. The form is available in seven languages.
The goal: Identify children who need further examination, treatment
The actual required assessment can be a complete examination and treatment plan performed by a dentist or a more basic oral health evaluation, such as a screening, which can be performed by a dentist, hygienist or an extended function registered dental assistant with supervision.
The dentist or dental professional who performs the assessment fills out just five boxes on the assessment form. Most significantly, they will note the presence of visible, untreated decay or caries experience, including untreated decay or fillings along with the level of treatment urgency.
California public schools then give the collected forms to their county office of education in accordance with the bill’s reporting requirements, and the data is then submitted to the California Department of Education and Office of Oral Health through the SCOHR online portal.
Read more from CDA about the Kindergarten Oral Health Requirement and dentists’ important role in identifying children who need further examination and treatment. A Q&A for dentists is available.