FAQs

Oral health is an integral part of overall health. Poor oral health can impact children’s ability to learn, develop and thrive. The good news is that oral disease is preventable. Schools provide a unique opportunity to promote prevention and support children’s oral and overall health. Despite progress, too many Washington kids are still dealing with preventable oral health issues. Your school’s participation in the Smile Survey will help us learn about the current status of oral health in Washington and help us address significant health disparities, especially for children of color.

No dental services will be provided in conjunction with the Smile Survey; however, each child screened will receive a letter to take home that notes whether they should visit the dentist prior to their next dental check-up.

In addition, children in the participating classrooms will receive a toothbrush kit which includes oral health tips and information on a statewide dental referral resource in case they need to find dental care in their area. The Smile Survey is a population-level assessment of the overall prevalence of tooth decay and dental sealants across 2^nd-3^rd graders in Washington and in select counties.

The screening is delivered by dental providers—dentists and dental hygienists—who have completed specific training to conduct the Smile Survey.

During the survey screening process, dental providers will visit elementary schools to perform oral health screenings of children in 2^nd and 3^rd grade. The data provides a point in time look at rates of treated, untreated and rampant decay, and application of dental sealants, as well as trends over the history of the survey. These results will be used at the state and local levels to inform decisions about Washington’s children’s oral health programs.

This hands-on data collection will provide much-needed insight into the current oral health status of Washington children, including the impacts of the pandemic and access to dental care.  The Smile Survey gathers data on children from a diversity of racial and ethnic identities, income levels, and geographies. The Smile Survey reports disaggregated data by age, race/ethnicity, language spoken at home, and family income.

The data provides a point in time look at rates of treated, untreated and rampant decay, and application of dental sealants, as well as trends over the history of the survey. For example, in 2015-2016 untreated decay declined significantly among preschoolers and 3^rd graders from low-income households and among all racial and ethnic groups when compared to the 2005 Smile Survey. 

If your school has a visiting school-based oral health program, your students are benefiting because they  are getting access to preventive oral health services. However, the Smile Survey is different; it is a population-level assessment of the overall prevalence of tooth decay and dental sealants that takes place about every five years in randomly selected schools throughout the state.  The data that is collected helps plan for future oral health programs and policies for children in our state.  No dental services will be offered or provided in conjunction with the survey. We want to know about kids who have unmet dental needs, and we want to know about children who have good access to care, too.

If your school has been randomly selected as part of the Smile Survey sample, OSPI, your local health department and DOH respectfully request your participation and the support of your teachers to carry out this important public health assessment of children’s oral health.

By facilitating a screening process at your school, you will help us assess and monitor the oral health status of children in your community and across the state. Completing this survey is essential to evaluate progress made toward addressing children’s oral health needs. We want to assure you that we understand how valuable students’ class time is and this quick visual screening only takes a few minutes per child.  In addition, participating in this project will not take up much space, or staff time.  Ideally, the screener and any data entry assistant they bring with them will just set up in the hallway or back of a portable/classroom to minimize children’s time out of class and eliminate the need for any assistance escorting children to/from a main area. The only thing we ask of your classroom staff is that they distribute the consent form to the students in the selected classrooms about one week ahead of the visit and collect any consents that are returned.

Details

• The assigned screener will only be at your school for one day
• We will invite 3-4 classes (up to 150 students total) to participate in 2^nd & 3^rd grades
• Each child screened will receive a letter notifying the family of any findings
• All children in the participating classes will receive an oral hygiene kit with a contact for help finding dental care
• Your school will receive an Oral Health Presentation Kit for participating
• There will be no cost for your school to participate

To participate in the Smile Survey, follow-up with the outreach team member who contacted you or reach out to Dana Harris at info@SmileSurveyWA.org or at 509-948-8662.