Oral Health
Caries Assessment Module (CAM)

A few years ago, PreventionPays™ developers, while collaborating on an oral health program in California to increase prevention services among parents with young children, conceived of a system that would increase screening in primary care offices and non-dental health clinics. The system would deliver screening questions to the parent/caregiver while in the waiting room, using Tablet PCs.  

New legislation permits primary care doctors and non-dental health clinics to bill for varnish application and various other oral health services. A PreventionPays™ research project is scheduled to begin in the next few months that will test the ability of the tablet to provide education and risk assessments in English and Spanish, in a Bay Area health clinic. The evaluation will also report on the efficacy and usability of the system among low-income families and their children. The primary goal is to increase varnish applications and other preventive services without over-burdening doctors participating in the program. Researchers at UCSF School of Dentistry, Dr. William Bird, Dr. Featherstone, and Dr. Gansky are helping modify the CAMBRA, so that the final screening instrument can be primarily completed by the parent prior to their child's visit with the doctor.