{"id":2,"date":"2016-05-17T14:30:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T14:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oralhealth\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-03-06T21:27:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T21:27:56","slug":"oral-health","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Oral Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-2\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-2-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-2-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-2-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-276 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Oral health <em>is<\/em> health!\u00a0 The Dental Health Program (DHP) at VDH works internally and with partners to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care and public health interventions that improve oral health outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>The DHP in Virginia began in 1952 with school-based clinical programs.\u00a0 At its peak, VDH employed over 100 dentists and auxiliary staff to provide dental services and education.\u00a0 In recent years, the Agency has re-aligned the DHP\u2019s focus on prevention and education and has transitioned clinic-based restorative programs to community-based prevention programs.\u00a0 The ability of VDH dental hygienists to work under \u201cRemote Supervision,\u201d without the direct supervision or initial exam of a dentist, has led to the success of the community-based education, dental sealant, and dental fluoride varnish programs.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>In addition to school-based clinical care, DHP staff perform many duties including the provision of:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Educational activities and resources to a wide variety of partner groups to promote proper oral health and hygiene, and support prevention services and access to dental care<\/li>\n<li>Direct clinical preventive services in unconventional settings and assistance with establishing a dental home<\/li>\n<li>Quality assurance reviews to assure a competent public health oral health workforce<\/li>\n<li>Support for medical and dental collaborative efforts<\/li>\n<li>Surveillance and evaluation activities to monitor and track dental disease rates and trends and for program assessment of effectiveness and planning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-2-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-2-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><div id=\"pgc-2-1-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-2-1-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Virginia Health Catalyst\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-y9KTNZe3jw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-2-2\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-2-2\" ><div id=\"pgc-2-2-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-2-2-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-2-2-0-0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Find a Dentist:<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-2-3\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-2-3\" ><div id=\"pgc-2-3-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-2-3-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-button panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"3\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-2-3-0-0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-button so-widget-sow-button-atom-d2d719ed7ad3-2\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"ow-button-base ow-button-align-center\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.dentaquest.com\/en\/find-a-dentist\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"sowb-button ow-icon-placement-left ow-button-hover\" \t>\n\t\t<span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tFor Medicaid Providers\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-2-3-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-2-3-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-button panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"4\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-2-3-1-0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-button so-widget-sow-button-atom-dc91c97f344a-2\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"ow-button-base ow-button-align-center\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/apps.vdh.virginia.gov\/livewell\/findadentist\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"sowb-button ow-icon-placement-left ow-button-hover\" \t>\n\t\t<span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tFor Young Children\/Individuals with Special Healthcare Needs\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oral health is health!\u00a0 The Dental Health Program (DHP) at VDH works internally and with partners to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care and public health interventions that improve oral health outcomes. The DHP in Virginia began in 1952 with school-based clinical programs.\u00a0 At its peak, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Virginia Department of Health - Oral Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Dental Health Program at VDH works to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Department of Health - Oral Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Dental Health Program at VDH works to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oral Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-06T21:27:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Department of Health - Oral Health\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/30\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-17T14:30:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-06T21:27:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Dental Health Program at VDH works to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/30\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/30\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Oral Health\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/\",\"name\":\"Oral Health\",\"description\":\"Virginia Department of Health - VDHLiveWell\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/oral-health\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virginia Department of Health - Oral Health","description":"The Dental Health Program at VDH works to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virginia Department of Health - Oral Health","og_description":"The Dental Health Program at VDH works to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/","og_site_name":"Oral Health","article_modified_time":"2026-03-06T21:27:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/","name":"Virginia Department of Health - Oral Health","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-17T14:30:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-06T21:27:56+00:00","description":"The Dental Health Program at VDH works to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation by improving equitable access to dental care.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/05\/shutterstock_660509155-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Oral Health"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/","name":"Oral Health","description":"Virginia Department of Health - VDHLiveWell","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":819,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}