Improving oral health outcomes

Our Center for Oral Health Integration improves patient care by addressing the complex relationship between oral and overall health. We are uniquely positioned to explore this intersection and develop new approaches to prevention and treatment.

By partnering with care and insurance coverage teams at HealthPartners, we identify and support a variety of pilot projects to facilitate integrated care and improve quality. These projects often lead to externally-funded studies that drive innovation in the field.

We are proud to support a range of projects, including smoking cessation, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, substance use screening, management of xerostomia (dry mouth), and oral health care during pregnancy.

Our team of experts strives to advance the delivery of high-quality care and the field of oral health integration. We are committed to innovative research, implementing evidence-based practices, and working collaboratively with our partners to achieve our shared goals.

Visit Dental and Oral Health to learn more about our research.

Key areas

Clinical decision support

Clinical decision support (CDS) improves health care delivery by using clinical knowledge, patient information, and other relevant health information. CDS has been used and studied in medicine, but not as much in dentistry. Our work leverages our integrated medical and dental care delivery system to understand how CDS can be used to improve care delivery and patient outcomes. Our team has developed a web-based platform that is integrated into the electronic health record and can be adapted to various clinical topics.

Leverage fully integrated medical and dental systems

Our access to integrated medical and dental electronic health records provides opportunities that few other organizations have. Most medical and dental practices remain siloed in their health care delivery. Our integrated systems and the long-term use of dental diagnosis codes are an asset that we leverage in our research.

Understand the development and progression of virus-associated dry mouth

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a condition that affects millions of people worldwide and can lead to liver disease and cancer. There is no vaccine to prevent HCV infection, but there are effective medications called Direct-Acting Antivirals (DAA) that can eliminate the virus. However, many people struggle to access these treatments. In addition to liver-related symptoms, patients with chronic HCV infection may experience dry mouth and reduced salivary gland function, but we don’t know why.

Our research aims to better understand the underlying causes of HCV-associated dry mouth and reduced salivary gland function. We will also investigate the effects of DAA therapy on saliva production and dry mouth symptoms.

This research could lead to better management for patients with chronic HCV infection and improve our understanding of similar conditions caused by viral infections, such as Sjögren’s Syndrome.

Publications

Visit Knowledge Exchange for a current list of publications from our Center for Oral Health Integration.

Key contacts

José Maldonado-Ortiz, DDS, PhD
Bryan Michalowicz, DDS, MS
Brad Rindal, DDS

Center for Oral Health Integration