Background: Millions of Americans continue to live with one or more oral diseases, including dental caries, which lead to periodontal disease. Periodontal disease continues to have a significant impact on those with chronic disease states, such as diabetes. Multiple reasons exist for why a significant improvement in oral health has not occurred since the original call to action was released. These reasons include lack of provider buy-in, access to dental providers, poor patient oral health literacy, and lack of finanical resources. Purpose: The purpose of this scholarly project was to integrate an oral health-screening tool for healthcare providers to use to guide oral health screening examinations in an effort to improve interdisciplinary care for patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes. This project was also designed to improve the documentation of discrete data elements of the oral health exam within the electronic health record (EHR) utilized in the Coordinated Care Organization (CCO). Methods: Using the Rosswurm and Larrabee Model for Change to Evidence Based Practice (EBP), a process improvement project was conducted implementing the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) in primary care practice setting within the CCO. Lewin’s Change theory provided additional guidance in asking the healthcare providers to implement this change project into their practice. Findings: The project was conducted as a pilot project in a clinic located in Southern Oregon over a four-week period of time where a total of fifty-five patients with a diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus were evaluated. Of this number, thirty-one patients were screened using the OHAT flowsheet. A healthcare provider experience questionnaire was also administered at the conclusion and provided necessary feedback in how to improve upon the processes that were employed during the rollout of the project. Recommendations: Further study is needed in using the OHAT in additional clinical sites within the primary care practice setting in order to compare the original results with the new data. Additional continuing education on oral health for healthcare providers should include how to conduct oral health assessments, thus improving the comfort level of the primary care providers (PCP) and clinical staff in using the OHAT. Further work is also warranted on how to improve the communication between medical and dental care providers.
